Stereotypes & Stigmas
by byanothername7
Summary: Beck and Jade find out the hard way why so many adults have been urging them not to have sex in high school, and now they have to figure out how to navigate the difficulties that come with being young parents. Kind of like a mini-series within a story, there will be time jumps and the pace will vary.
1. Make Your Own Decision

"How long have you known?"

Her father's words ring in her ears. Jade completely comprehends the question he's asking her, but she can't bring herself to make eye contact with him and actually answer it. She's too ashamed.

"Jade."

"About two days." Beck answers for his girlfriend, rubbing her back gently "Other than each other, we haven't told anyone yet besides you guys."

The young couple sits in the living room at Jade's mother's house, where she resides most of the time with her mother, step-father, and eight year-old half-brother, Tyler. Her mother and father are both present as are their respective spouses, Jade's step-mother, Angie, and step-father. Chris. Tyler has already gone to bed, Jade didn't want him present when they first broke the news just in case someone ended up saying something they might regret saying in front of him later. Beck's parents are also there.

She's pregnant. There hadn't really been any other way to tell their parents other than to come right out and say it. They're sixteen and scared, well terrified really, and they didn't know what else to do other than to tell the adults that they trust the most and that are supposed to know what is best for them.

"I feel really stupid." Jade admits "We thought we were being careful."

She wasn't on birth control, but she has an app that tracks her periods and ovulation days. They made sure it was an off week, and they used a condom. They thought they were covered.

"You're not stupid, sweetheart." Her mother, Kaitlyn, tells her "Unfortunately this happens sometimes, even when you're careful. I just wish you would have come and talked to me beforehand so maybe we could have done a few things to make sure you were...more careful."

She, of all people, understands what it's like to suddenly be faced with an unexpected pregnancy. She had met Jonathan West when she was still in college. They were only twenty-one when they had Jade, after only knowing each other for about a year. Neither one of them was certain if the other was for sure the person they wanted to spend the rest of their life with, and unfortunately it didn't work out. They split before Jade was two. Co-parenting wasn't easy on them either, they disagreed on a lot of things and let their jealousy get the best of them at times. It was only just recently that they began to see eye-to-eye and were finally able to have a conversation about something other than Jade without it turning into a screaming match.

"You're not seriously going to let her off the hook, are you?" John asks his daughter's mother "She's sixteen!"

"I know she is, I know." Kaitlyn assures him "But yelling at them right now won't change anything. She's already pregnant."

"So now what do we do?" Beck's mother, Priya, sighs "Do we call MTV and see if they need any new couples for 'Sixteen and Pregnant'? What do we do with these two?"

"Well if they think they're old enough to be having sex, then obviously they're old enough to make their own decisions about what they want to do now." Beck's father, James, points out "So, what exactly do you two plan on doing?"

"We uh..." Beck hesitates, looking to Jade "We're not really sure yet. We're still trying to process everything that's going on."

"We were hoping that you guys might have some advice for us..." Jade adds

"My advice is still the same as it's always been!" James exclaims "Don't have sex if you're not ready for the possibility of getting pregnant! Especially when you're still in high school."

"Thanks, Dad..." Beck sighs "That's real helpful."

"I raised you better than this, Beckett." James shakes his head "Or at least I thought I did."

"Oh my baby boy..." Priya looks as if she could cry as she walks over to Beck and cups his face in her hands "You can't have a baby yet...you're still a baby yourself."

"Let's not make their decisions for them." John suggests "Like you said, if they're old enough to get themselves into it...they can figure out if and how they want to get out of it. I don't think lecturing them is going to help at this point."

"I think you're right. But we're not done talking about this, Beck." James says sternly "We'll see you at home later."

"Yes sir." Beck nods as his parents grab their coats

"Thank you for your hospitality." Priya says to Kaitlyn as she and her husband exit the living room "I wish it was under better circumstances."

"I'll see them out." Chris says as he follows the couple out of the room

Beck and Jade are left then with just John and Kaitlyn, as well as Angie. The room is quiet, and no one really knows what they should say to break the silence.

"Mrs. Parker, Mr. West...I'm so sorry." Beck finally apologizes "You must hate me."

"This is just as much Jade's fault as it is yours, Beck." Kaitlyn reminds him "We're equally upset with both of you."

"I'm sorry..." Jade apologizes as well, tears forming in her eyes "Please don't kick me out."

"Woah, who said anything about kicking you out?" John asks her "We said we're upset, not that we want to disown you."

"Yeah." Kaitlyn agrees "I mean, I'm not thrilled about the idea of becoming a grandmother before I'm forty, but you're still my daughter. I'm not just going to throw you out on the street with nowhere to go."

"Really?"

"Of course..." Kaitlyn assures her daughter as she sits down on the couch next to her "Baby, we love you no matter what."

"Beck's parents did have a point though..." John sighs "I mean, do you two have any idea what you're going to do? We can't really make that decision for you."

"John..." Angie interrupts

"Hm?"

"Maybe..." She begins, but then changes her train of thought "Jade, sweetie...have you even been to a doctor yet?"

"No..." Jade shakes her head, wiping a few tears away "We wanted to tell you first, we didn't want anyone to find a bill from an appointment and get mad at us for hiding something."

"That's very responsible of you." Angie nods "But you should see a doctor before you make any decisions about what you want to do. They might be able to give you information better than we can."

"That's a good idea, Angie." Kaitlyn agrees "Jade? We'll call and make you an appointment first thing in the morning. Okay? It's late now, none of the offices will be open anyways."

"Okay." Jade nods "Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Please come with us..." Jade begins to cry "To the appointment. I need you. I don't want to admit it, but I need my mom."

"It's okay to need me." She says softly, taking her daughter in her arms and kissing the top of her head "I'm your mother first and foremost, I'll always be here for you. No matter how old you are."

"Thank you..."

"I should get home and talk to my parents..." Beck sighs, rubbing Jade's leg gently before standing up from the couch "I'm sure they have more to say."

"Hey." John extends his hand to shake Beck's "Thank you, both of you, for coming to us right away and not trying to hide anything. It was very responsible."

"Of course, Mr. West." Beck nods, smiling slightly "Thank you for not trying to kill me."

"Don't push your luck."

"Yes sir." He nods again before turning back to Jade, who is still leaning against her mother "You okay, babe?"

"I will be." She sighs "I think I just need some sleep."

"I agree." He leans over and kisses her quickly "Hey, I love you. It's all going to be okay."

"I love you too." She manages to smile "Call me in the morning?"

"Of course."

* * *

"So, this whole area here is your uterus..." The doctor explains, motioning to the screen next to Jade's head "and this little blob right here is the baby. If you look closely you can _just_ make out the distinction between the head and the body. If all of the information you gave me was correct...it looks like you're about eight weeks with a perfectly healthy baby."

"Oh wow..." Jade manages to smile a bit as she looks from the screen to Beck

He smiles back at her, and squeezes her hand a little tighter.

Much to her relief, the doctors and nurses didn't lecture her and Beck at all about what kind of birth control they had attempted to use or how they should have been more careful. They just brought Jade in and asked her some questions about her period and her medical history, then took a urine sample to test to see if the test had been faulty or if she is really pregnant.

She is.

"Are you alright, sweetheart?" Kaitlyn asks, touching Jade's arm gently

"I will be, yeah." Jade nods "What's that sound?"

"That's the heartbeat." The doctor smiles, turning up the volume on the ultrasound machine "Right now it sounds like a purr because of how fast it's beating, but the more the baby develops the more it will start to sound like the kind of heartbeat you typically think of."

"That's wild." Beck admits "But like...a cool kind of wild."

"Do you want any copies of the images?" The doctor asks them as she switches the ultrasound machine off

Jade is about to say no, she doesn't want the image to possibly influence any decisions that they might make. But Beck speaks up before she can.

"Yes please." He answers "Two sets, if that's possible."

"Of course. Just let me print those for you."

"Beck..."

"I should at least show my parents." He reminds her "And you should at least show your dad and Angie, and Chris too."

She knows he's right, unfortunately. He has the right to show his parents if he wants to, and the rest of her's will certainly ask her about the appointment as soon as they have the chance.

Jade tucks the ultrasound pictures into her bag as quickly as possible once the doctor hands them to her, while Beck takes a moment to look them over before tucking them into his wallet.

"Can I..." Jade turns to her mother as they're leaving the office "I think I'm going to go with Beck."

She and her mother had driven there together, mostly because Jade had been too afraid and too fidgety to come on her own, and Beck had driven his own car there and met them. Now that the appointment is over, Jade feels that she should go with her boyfriend.

"That's fine." Kaitlyn nods "You two obviously have a lot to talk about."

"We do."

"Let me know where you end up." Kaitlyn tells her daughter as she kisses her on the cheek "I love you."

"Love you too, Mom."

Beck grabs Jade's hand and laces their fingers together, pressing a kiss to the back of her palm and giving it a reassuring squeeze before leading her across the parking lot to his truck. The two of them climb in, he starts the engine, and they're off.

The majority of their drive is quiet, the only sound coming from the radio within the car. Eventually, Beck finds a parking lot near a not-as-crowded part of Venice Beach and cuts the engine.

"Do you want to have an abortion then?" He sighs, looking to his girlfriend

"What?" Jade raises an eyebrow at him "No, Beck. I mean, maybe if it was still just a clump of cells but the thing has a heartbeat and a head...I can't do it. Why would you even ask me that?"

Contrary to popular belief, she doesn't actually enjoy causing pain to anything or anyone who doesn't deserve it. At least not on purpose.

"You've just been really quiet for the past thirty-six hours or so is all..." He tells her "I haven't been able to read you that well...and normally I can."

"Well yeah. It's a lot to process." She admits "I'm fucking terrified, Beck."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry." He sighs, cupping his face in his hands before running one through his hair "I'm scared too."

There's silence again, neither one of them knowing what to say next.

"Should we keep it?" Jade finally asks "I mean, we're sixteen-"

"I'm literally about to turn seventeen." Beck reminds her "You may or may not be by the time it's born, depending on how early or late things happen."

If the doctor is correct and she's really eight weeks along, that would put her contraception date sometime at the end of September. It would also mean her due date is very close to her own birthday in July.

"Because that one year will make all the difference." Jade rolls her eyes

"Think about it, Jade." Beck shifts in his seat so he's facing her "We have what, a little over seven months to get our lives figured out? If we choose to keep it, we have time."

"Do you want to keep it?"

"Do you?"

"I don't know..." Jade sighs "I can't abort it, that I do know. But I also know myself. And if I carry it for the next however many months, I'm going to get so damn attached to it. But there's all of these stigmas and stereotypes that come with being teen parents and I _really_ want to go to college-"

"Whoa, hang on." Beck stops her "Who said you wouldn't be able to go to college if we keep it?"

"The stigmas..."

"Fuck the stigmas." Beck says seriously "Jade, this is _us_ we're talking about here, remember? Honestly babe, if you're willing to put your body through all of that...I know it doesn't make any sense for us to keep it. But I really think we can do this."

"I think we can too." She admits "Together, at least."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"So, we're going to be parents then?" He clarifies with a smirk

"I guess we are, yeah." She chuckles, but only out of nervousness

"Hey." He reaches out and cups her face in his hands "I love you, okay? I love the baby. We're going to do this together and we're going to rock it."

He leans forward and kisses her briefly, before she stops him.

"Beck?"

"Hm?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure." He nods "Anything."

"If you're going to run...do it now." She begs "Don't do it two or three years from now when I love the kid and it's emotionally attached to both of us."

"I'll never run." He assures her "I'm going to be here for you and the baby, always. Okay?"

"Okay." She nods with a slight smile "Okay."


	2. Our Village

Beck doesn't tell his parents right away that he and Jade have decided to keep the baby. On the day they make their decision, he arrives home after dropping Jade off to discover that they've already gone out with friends for the evening. He knows his parents and he knows that there's no point in waiting up for them, so he retires to his RV for the evening to play video games. It isn't until the following night when he returns to the house for dinner that the topic finally resurfaces.

"Has Jade been to a doctor?" His father asks him

"Hm?" Beck looks up from his food "Oh, yeah. I went with her yesterday. She, uh, she's eight weeks, and they said everything looks healthy."

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet, retrieving the sonogram pictures from inside of it and unfolding them before passing them to his father.

"These pictures make it feel very real, don't they?" James says to his son as he passes the sonogram pictures to his wife

"They do." Beck nods "We heard the heartbeat too."

"So have you two given any thought to what exactly you think you're going to do?"

"Yeah." Beck says quietly "We went for a drive after her appointment yesterday and had a really long discussion about what we want to do. And let me just say that I _know_ you're disappointed in us, I'm disappointed in us too. There's a lot of things that we should have done differently that could have put us in a better position than this...but we want to keep the baby."

"And raise it?" His mother clarifies

"Well...yeah?" Beck raises an eyebrow at her "I thought that was implied?"

"So, you're going to marry her then?" Priya clarifies

"Ma, we're sixteen." Beck reminds her "We can't get married, it's not legal."

"I meant when it _is_ legal. I thought that was implied?"

"In theory, one day." Beck shrugs "But that's a long way off still. We don't know what could happen between now and then."

"So you're saying that-"

"I'm saying that I saw an ultrasound of my kid for the first time yesterday." Beck cuts her off, growing a bit annoyed with her condescending tone "As scary as it was, it was also one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. So even though we're a little young and we don't know what could happen in the future, Jade and I want to keep the baby _and_ raise it because it's _our_ baby. Even when you have a baby after you're married, there's still a chance that things might not work out and you could get a divorce, so I don't really see the possibility of breaking up as a reason not to. I love Jade, I want to marry Jade. When we're older and the time is right though, not just because it's what you tell me to do."

"I suppose you have thought this through." Priya sighs "I'm sorry, it's just hard to wrap my head around the idea that my baby is having a baby of his own."

"It's hard for me to wrap my head around too." Beck admits "But that doesn't change the fact that it's true."

"That's true..."

The family eats the rest of their dinner in almost-silence, a slight tension of unresolved feelings lingering over the table. Finally, Priya stands up and begins clearing dishes, taking them into the kitchen with her to clean up.

"She's going to come around." James says to his son once his wife is out of ear-shot "Like she said, it's just a little difficult to process right now."

"I'm sorry." Beck apologizes "I know you're disappointed."

"That's an accurate descriptor right now, yes." James sighs "But, I think if you prove yourself responsible enough over the next few months and once the baby is born...that disappointment might start to fade."

"I'm going to get a job." Beck tells him "One that pays well, even if I don't necessarily like the work. I want to be able to provide for my kid."

"That's a very responsible step, but that's not what I'm worried about."

"What are you worried about then?"

"Don't you dare abandon that baby, Beckett James. Do you understand me?"

"Dad I-"

"No listen to me." James says sternly "This isn't a decision you can go back on a few years from now. Once Jade has that baby and the two of you sign that birth certificate, that baby is yours for the rest of your life. I _thought _we raised you better than to get yourself into a situation like this, but I _know_ we raised you better than to ever run out on your own flesh and blood,."

"Dad, I would never." Beck assures him "Even if Jade and I break up, and I really hope that we don't because I love her, I'll still be there for the baby. I love him or her, and that's not something I'll ever feel differently about."

"You're sure?"

"Of course I am."

"Good." James nods "Now help your mother clean up the rest of dinner, you need all the brownie points you can get from her."

Beck nods and begins clearing the rest of dinner without saying another word to his father. It hurts him slightly to know that his parents could ever imagine him doing something as horrific as walking out on his own child, but he supposes that the stigmas and stereotypes Jade had mentioned didn't do much to help his case.

Meanwhile, Jade and her family had also just finished eating dinner. She and Beck had told her mother and step-father about the decision they made to keep the baby as soon as he dropped her off the previous day. Kaitlyn and Chris had told them that even though they were young, they would support their decision as long as they were responsible. Kaitlyn also told Jade that she would be responsible for calling her father and step-mother and informing them of the decision as well, which Jade agreed with and did later that evening, but also that there was someone else she would have to be responsible for telling.

"Tyler?" Jade knocks on the doorway to her younger brother's room

"Yeah?"

He had run upstairs to his room as soon as he had been excused from the dinner table. Jade stayed to help her mother and Chris clean up, but then decided to take the opportunity to tell her brother about what was going to be happening over the next few months. She doesn't want him to overhear or see something that he shouldn't and be scared or come to a ridiculous conclusion of his own.

"Hey." She smiles at him, entering the room "Mind if I come in for a bit?"

"Sure."

Tyler is eight, which makes him exactly half her age at the current moment. When he was first born, Jade always thought that an eight year age gap was huge; all of her friends had siblings who were only two to four years away from them. Now that she knows that there's going to be a similar age gap between her brother and her baby, she sees that eight years really isn't as big of a gap as she once thought it was.

"Whatcha doing?" Jade asks the eight year-old, sitting down next to him on his floor

"Building with legos." Tyler tells her "Want to help?"

"Uh, maybe in a little bit." Jade hesitates "I was actually hoping to talk to you about something first, if that's okay?"

"Okay." Tyler nods, setting the bricks down and turning to face his sister "What's up?"

"There's not really an easy way to say it, so I'm just going to say it." Jade tells him "I'm going to have a baby."

Tyler says nothing for a moment, the only movement in his face coming when he blinks.

"Are you old enough to do that?" Tyler finally says

"Apparently." Jade can't help but laugh at what must have been her brother's first thought "Most people my age don't, but I guess life had other plans for me."

"You don't look like you're having a baby." Tyler admits "My friend Tucker's mommy is having a baby, and her tummy is really fat."

"That's because the baby is really small right now." Jade tells him, reaching forward and grabbing the smallest lego brick she can find "Right now it's about the size of this lego. See? So it isn't taking up a whole lot of room yet. But soon the baby is going to start getting bigger, and then my tummy will get bigger too."

"Oh, okay." Tyler nods "Am I going to be the baby's brother?"

"No, you're going to be the baby's uncle."

"Can the baby call me Uncle Tyler?"

"If that's what you want."

"I'll think about it." Tyler shrugs "So...does that make you the baby's mom?"

"It does."

"Who's the baby's dad then?"

"Beck."

"Oh, that makes sense." Tyler laughs "Silly me."

"What makes you say that?" Jade chuckles

"Because you love Beck. If someone else was the baby's dad, that wouldn't make sense." Tyler explains "Do you want to play legos with me now?"

"Sure." Jade smiles "What should we build?"

* * *

Beck and Jade decide not to tell anyone else about the baby until Jade is into her second trimester, since that's what all of the books and websites they have read advise them to do. They almost tell their friends at Beck's seventeenth birthday party about a week or so after their first doctor's appointment, but ultimately decide it might be best if they wait a few more weeks.

It's New Year's Eve when they finally decide that they're ready to say something to their friends. Jade is just over twelve weeks, and had just been to the doctor earlier in the week to confirm that everything was still going well.

Tori invites the two of them, along with Cat, Robbie and Andre over to hang out and countdown to midnight together. The six of them are all gathered in the Vega's basement, eating pizza and playing video games while they wait for the new year to arrive.

"Guys." Beck breaks the silence between their transition from Super Smash Brothers to Mario Kart "There's something we need to tell you."

"Right now?" Jade whispers to him curling up a little closer to him on the couch

"Why not?"

They immediately have the attention of their other four friends, none of them really knowing what Beck and Jade could have to say.

"We?" Tori clarifies "As in both of you?"

"Yeah."

"What?" Andre laughs "Is Jade pregnant or something?"

"Uh..." Beck chuckles nervously as he looks to Jade, who is trying to avoid making eye-contact with anyone

"Oh shit." Andre sits up straight "Am I right?"

"You are." Jade nods slowly "I'm due July 15th."

"You're kidding." Robbie says flatly

"Do you want to see the sonograms?" Beck asks "We have proof."

"_Yes_." Andre, Cat, Tori and Robbie all say in unison, startling Beck a little bit

He sits up, removing his arm from around Jade's waist, and pulls the pictures out of his wallet. Their friends immediately flock to them to look, oh-ing and ah-ing over the images in front of them.

"Jadey." Cat smiles, looking at her best friend "You're going to be a mommy!"

"Well..." Tori sighs "Not necessarily. Are you keeping it?"

"We are." Jade nods

"Really?"

"Yeah." Beck confirms "We had a very long discussion a few weeks ago when we found out, but we've decided that we want the baby to stay with us."

"Well then I guess come 'congratulations' are in order then." Tori smiles "Congrats."

"Congratulations, man." Andre pats Beck on the shoulder

"Yeah." Robbie agrees, reaching out for a handshake "Congrats."

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet?" Cat asks hopefully

"No, not yet." Jade shakes her head "We won't find that out until the end of February."

"Oh, bummer." Cat pouts

"It's going to be an exciting new year for you two then, huh?" Andre chuckles

"Yeah definitely." Beck smiles, looking to Jade "We're going to make the best of it all though. Right babe?"

"Right." Jade nods

"Oh, I can't _wait_ to go shopping!" Cat squeals, hugging Jade tightly "You guys are going to be the best parents!"

"Would you mind telling _our_ parents that?" Beck sighs

"They're not happy?"

"Would you be?" Beck asks "I mean, I get it. We're real young, and it happened on accident. But..."

"My parents are handling it much better than his." Jade finishes for him

"Does Tyler know?"

"He does." Jade laughs "And I'm shocked that he hasn't mentioned it to you guys when you've been over. But he's very excited to be Uncle Tyler."

"Oh so he decided he wants the title, huh?" Beck chuckles "Not just Tyler? Uncle Tyler."

"Uncle Tyler, yeah." Jade nods with a smile

"Oh, so I have some competition for favorite uncle then?" Andre asks

"Excuse me." Robbie speaks up "Am I not competition?"

"Naw, not really." Andre teases him, causing everyone in the room to laugh

They say it takes a village to raise a child, and this is part of theirs. Beck and Jade, their friends, their parents... so many people love their baby already. The excitement and support coming from their friends is already making Jade feel better too. No matter what the baby is going to be loved by everyone around him or her, and that's quite clear to see already.


	3. Empathy

Beck's main priority going into the new year, before he and Jade start making any preparations for the baby, is to find a steady job. He's landed small acting parts here and there, either commercials or small background parts in one of the thousands of projects currently filming in LA. He's been making enough money to fill up his gas tank and take Jade on a date every once and a while, but not nearly enough to support a child. Thankfully, one of his father's friends owns a rather large landscaping company, and he offers Beck a job working on one of the crews. The hours are less than ideal, every day after school until seven o'clock and Saturdays from eight in the morning until six at night, and the work is hard manual labor most of the time, but Beck knows its the price he has to pay to ensure he gives his child the best future that he possibly can. The pay isn't bad, he makes fifteen dollars an hour. He doesn't see nearly that much after taxes, but he doesn't complain because anything at this point is better than nothing.

Jade has already been working as a receptionist in her step-mother's real estate office for the better half of a year now and decides its probably best for her to stay where she knows she has a job, rather than to quit and not be able to find something better because no employers are looking to hire a pregnant teenager they'll have to give maternity leave to in six months anyways. Angie has already assured her that she'll have time off when the baby is born and still be able to keep her job, assuming that she still wants it. Even though she's only making minimum wage, Jade already knows she'll want to keep it. Most other places wouldn't offer her that opportunity.

The next step for both of them is to start figuring out what their lives are going to look like once the baby is born. Will they continue living apart? Will one of them move in with the other? Beck offers to let Jade move into the RV with him, much to his parent's dismay. They don't hate Jade, that's not the issue. They hate the RV. Beck often forgets that even though he's living under his own roof, he's still living on his parent's property. He's using their water and eating their food, and if Jade were to move in that would be another person, and eventually another on top of that, also using their water and eating their food. Not to mention the RV is most likely the reason Beck and Jade are in the situation that they're in anyways. James and Priya wish that their son would have at least consulted them before making the offer, but to their relief Jade says no.

"There's not nearly enough room." She says to Beck "I mean, you can barely fit all of _your_ crap in here. By the time I move my stuff in, and then we get all of the baby stuff, there won't even be enough room to walk."

"It wouldn't be so bad." Beck shrugs

"Oh really?" Jade raises an eyebrow at him "Where would we put a crib?"

"I'll get rid of the fish tank!" Beck offers "Honestly, it's a pain in the ass to clean every week anyways. I'll toss the fish tank and the crib can go there."

"Alright, well what about a dresser?"

"Do babies need dressers?"

"Babies wear clothes, don't they?" Jade reminds him "And yeah, babies are small. But what about when he or she starts to crawl? Where are they going to go?"

"Alright..." Beck sighs "So maybe the RV isn't the best idea."

"Maybe not."

"Well, what should we do then?"

They both agree that it isn't fair to their parents to ask if the other can move in, especially when it would mean _both_ of them moving into Beck's parents' again. Neither of them are eighteen yet, so they can't get their own place. Even if they could, it wouldn't really make a whole lot of financial sense given that neither one of them was working enough to pay rent in addition to paying to raise a child.

Eventually, both of them come to the conclusion that it makes the most sense to keep their living arrangements the same, Jade will continue to live with her mother and Chris and Beck will continue to live in the RV. When the baby is born, he or she will stay with Jade and sleep in a crib in her bedroom, but will have access to the rest of the house as they start to grow. Beck will stay over one or two nights a week, and on the weekends Jade and the baby will stay with him in the RV. When they graduate and start college they will re-evaluate to see if it's possible for them to move in to an apartment together as a family.

* * *

"Let me take you out tonight."

Jade is startled as Beck appears next to her at her locker. Normally, she grabs her books and meets him at his before they walk out to the parking lot together at the end of the day. He's ahead of schedule today though, or so it appears.

She's sixteen weeks pregnant now and is showing a bit more obviously. They haven't made any huge announcement to the school or anything, it would be stupid of them to do so, but slowly their classmates are starting to figure it out.

"I have work." She reminds him as he greets her with a kiss

"So do I." He nods "I meant after."

"Babe, I'm _so_ tired." Jade admits "And I have a lot of homework to get done before tomorrow. It's not that-"

"Jade." Beck cuts her off "It's been forever since we spent time together just you and me."

"I know but-"

"And we need to take advantage of the opportunity to spend time together while we still can, because in a few months it's not going to be just you and me anymore."

"Beck, I know that." Jade cups her boyfriend's face in her hands "I _want _to spend alone time just you and me, but why do we have to go out? Why can't we just do homework together or watch a movie-"

"Let's go see a movie!" Beck suggests "What's playing right now? I'll look up times-"

"I meant stay home and watch a movie..." Jade sighs "Do you know how many times I would have to get up and pee during a movie? Well actually, I might not have to get up. If we're being completely honest, put me in a dark theater and in a soft seat right now and I'll probably fall asleep."

"Why don't you want to go out?" Beck sighs

"I've just told you like three times that I'm exhausted." Jade closes her locker and begins walking towards the school's exit

"Like I won't be when I get off work?" Beck jogs to catch up with her "Babe, I'm about to go do four hours of manual labor in the _sun_."

"And I'm pregnant." Jade hisses to him quietly

"You have got to stop using that as an excuse." Beck stops walking

"Excuse me?" Jade turns around to face him "Do you have any idea what my body is going through right now?"

"You only complain about it all the time." Beck scoffs

"Oh alright, I get it." Jade nods "You're the big strong man who goes and works with his hands, so I just have to go along with what you want, when you want."

"That's not what I'm saying!" Beck calls after her as she starts walking towards her car "I'm saying-"

"I'll see you tomorrow, Beck." Jade waves to him without turning around to look

"Whatever." Beck says to himself, running a hand through his hair as he collects himself

He reaches into his pocket and grabs his keys, walking towards his own car in the lot. After throwing his backpack into the passenger's seat, he grabs his Newman's Landscaping t-shirt and changes before climbing into his car and heading toward's his job site. Today they're supposed to be planting trees and spreading mulch, so he'll change his pants and shoes in his car once he arrives. At every stoplight he checks his phone to see if there's a text from Jade, but there never is. She's been acting so strangely the past few days, and he just doesn't know what's up anymore.

"What's up, junior!" He's greeted by other members of the work crew as he arrives on site "How was school?"

He's the youngest member of their work crew by a few years and often catches flack for it. All of their teasing is friendly, but Beck isn't in the mood today. He nods his head hello to the other guys, but doesn't say anything as he picks up a wheelbarrow full of mulch and begins to move it.

"You seem like you're in a weird mood today." One of the other crew members, Oscar, says to him as he picks up a shovel to help Beck start spreading mulch "You're not radiating your normal charm."

Beck looks up at Oscar with an annoyed expression, then digs his shovel into the mulch and carries it over to an area that needs coverage.

"Alright, alright. Not in a joking mood." Oscar nods "I get it. Something happen with your girlfriend?"

Over the past three weeks that he's had this job, Beck has gotten to know the other men that he works with quite well and vise versa. They spent almost thirty hours a week together in close proximity, so there's plenty of opportunities to talk to one another. Most of them knew by now that Beck wants to be an actor, and is only working this job to make money to support the baby that he and his girlfriend are expecting at the ages of seventeen and sixteen.

"Getting her to go out and do something these days is like pulling teeth." Beck admits with a huff "We're both always working now and we don't get to see each other as much as we used to. So, I tried to convince her to go out tonight so we could spend some time together just us outside of school, but she's always too tired to do anything."

"You're probably not going to want to hear this...but I don't blame her." Oscar tells him

"What?"

"Listen, dude. Me and my fiancé have three kids, I get that sometimes pregnant women can be difficult. But it's not always their fault." Oscar reminds him "Look at your girl, for example. She's going to school full-time, she's working, she's coming home from work and doing homework, then she wakes up at five o'clock the next morning and does it all over again. That's exhausting on it's own, but on top of all of that she's trying to grow a human. A human that's taking all of her energy, all of the nutrients she's putting into her body, and probably keeping her from getting a good night's sleep."

"We haven't been able to feel it kick yet though."

"Doesn't mean she can't feel it move. She can feel that inside _weeks_ before you can feel it on the outside." Oscar says, leaning against his shovel "Besides, you ever tried to sleep with a watermelon in your pajamas? Because she's doing it every night."

"I guess I never thought about it like that before." Beck sighs

"Of course you haven't." Oscar chuckles "You're seventeen, how would you know about that stuff? I know you're not asking me for advice but here it is, don't try to take her out super late in the middle of the week. Want to take her to a movie? Go on a Sunday afternoon. Want to spend some alone time together? Do it in the privacy of your own home. She's going through hell right now and once the baby is born its only going to get worse."

"So saying that she complains too much probably wasn't a good move then?"

"Oh you're in the doghouse, my brother." Oscar laughs "It's gonna take a pretty big romantic gesture to get you out of that one."

Beck nods with a sigh and continues to spread the mulch. He feels like an idiot. Of course Jade is exhausted, why wouldn't she be? Everything Oscar just pointed out is true. The worst part is, he already _knew_ everything Oscar just said. He was just too naive to consider it.

They finish up their job a little early that evening, so Beck gets to go home about half an hour earlier than usual. He goes straight into the house to find the leftover dinner his mother left in the microwave for him, and absolutely devours it before heading upstairs to shower. Normally he'd go back out to his RV to start his homework, but tonight he tells his parents he's going out and gets right back into his car.

He messed up.

He knows he messed up.

Jade's house is only about a ten minute drive away from his, but he stops at the drug store on the way and picks up a bouquet of flowers and a jar of peanut butter. Normally he'd opt for a box of chocolates instead, but Jade has been really craving peanut butter the past few weeks. Peanut butter will make her happier than chocolates would, assuming she'll let him see her long enough to give it to her.

It's Kaitlyn that answers the door when he arrives, and the disapproving look on her face tells him that Jade has shared the details of their disagreement earlier that afternoon.

"I know I was wrong." Is all he says to her "And I'd like to apologize. Is it alright if I come in?"

"She's in her room." Kaitlyn nods "Although, I can't tell you what kind of mood she's in."

"Thank you, Mrs. Parker." Beck says as he moves past her and up the stairs to the second floor

Jade's door is open at the end of the upstairs hallway, and he stops in front of it for a moment before he knocks. She's sitting at her desk, working on what appears to be the same precalc homework that was waiting for him at home. Her hair is pulled up into a bun on top of her head, and she's wearing a fitted tank top that shows her bump a little more clearly than her other clothes. He thinks she looks beautiful, but he doesn't want her to catch him staring. So he reaches up and knocks gently on her doorframe.

She looks up momentarily, making eye contact with him before turning back to her homework.

"Hi." She says with almost no emotion

"Hey." He says back "Mind if I come in?"

"I guess not."

He enters the room and kneels down next to her desk chair so he's almost at eye-level.

"I'm sorry." He nudges her arm

"For what?" She sighs, putting her pencil down and turning to face him "The argument, the belittling, or the scene we made in the hallway?"

"All of it." He admits, setting the peanut butter on her desk and handing her the bouquet of flowers "I was being really dumb, and very inconsiderate."

"Yeah you were."

"Of course you don't want to go out and stay out super late when we have to be at school early tomorrow." He tells her "And of course you're fucking exhausted, you're growing a human! I'm so sorry for being a dick about it. You're so amazing for doing everything that you're doing and doing it well."

"Yeah, well. I didn't have to be such a bitch to you." Jade smiles a bit "I'm still trying to get ahold of these hormones."

"No, you had every right to be mad." Beck assures her "I'm going to start being a better boyfriend, I promise."

"You're already a great boyfriend, Beck." She kisses his cheek "You just do dumb stuff sometimes."

"Yeah, well that's going to stop." He promises her "Or at least I'm going to try."

"Okay."

She leans down to kiss him for real and they both murmur a quick 'I love you' as Beck stands up to leave.

"Wait." She grabs his hand "Stay and let's put a movie on."

"I thought you had-"

"I do." She cuts him off "But we can start the movie while I finish and then we can both lay in bed together and watch."

"Alright." Beck smiles

He takes off his jacket and shoes and then grabs her television remote and switches the screen on. He channel surfs until he finds a station playing the first Avengers movie, then lays down on Jade's bed to wait for her.

She only takes about half an hour to finish the rest of her homework, then switches off her desk lamp and lays down next to him on top of the covers. Beck wraps one arm around her and wraps his other around her bump, tracing circles on her stomach with his finger.

"Can you feel it moving yet?" He asks her

"Hm?"

"The baby." He clarifies "Apparently sometimes mothers can feel their babies moving before they can feel it kicking."

"Sometimes I can feel it moving, yeah." She nods "Just like a little flutter though, not like a kick."

"Does it hurt?"

"It tickles more than anything." Jade admits "As soon as I feel a real kick, you'll be the first to know."

"Okay." He smiles, pressing a kiss to her lips "Sounds good to me."


	4. Little One

"Oh stop it." Jade rolls her eyes, smiling as she looks out the window of Beck's truck

"I'm being one hundred percent serious." He laughs "I really do think it's a girl."

"There's no way, it's for sure a boy." She insists "And when I am right and you are wrong, you owe me a foot rub."

"I just gave you a foot rub."

"Well, I want another one." She smirks

"Okay, fine." He agrees "If I'm right, what do I get?"

"Bragging rights."

"Seems fair." Beck laughs, grabbing her hand in his as he drives and pressing a kiss to it "You sure you don't want a little girl though?"

"I never said I didn't want a girl." Jade reminds him "I just said I didn't _think_ it was a girl. There's a difference."

"So, what do you _want_ then?" He asks her "Ignore what you _think, _what do you want?"

"A healthy baby."

"Spoken like a true mother." Beck smirks "Look at you."

"Look at me."

They're on their way to Jade's twenty week appointment. She's halfway through with her pregnancy now, and she's going to get to have another ultrasound done. Not only will they get to see their baby again, but they'll finally get to find out if they're expecting a son or daughter. It's the first appointment that Kaitlyn isn't attending with them, they want it to be a special moment just the two of them when they find out the gender.

Jade is anxious from the moment they enter the parking lot. What she told Beck in the car had been true, the only thing she really cares about is whether or not the baby is healthy. She can't imagine what she'll do if it isn't, not to mention the judgement and blame that will probably be focused on her simply because she's a teen parent. But she's terrified that the baby is a girl. She doesn't know if she'll know what to do with a girl, she certainly doesn't feel like she's an adequate role model. If it's a boy though, Beck would be the role model. And she would just be Mom, her son's first love. But Beck would be so cute with a little girl...

"Hear that?" Her doctor smiles as a whirring sound fills the examination room

"Is that the heartbeat?" Jade asks

"Sure is."

"It sounds more like an actual heartbeat now." Beck says "Before it was just purring."

"Just wait until you get closer to the birth." The doctor tells them "It'll be so surreal."

"I can't wait."

"Are we finding out the gender today?"

"Yes please." Beck and Jade both say in unison

"Alright." The doctor laughs "Do I get to tell you? Or am I writing it down for a gender reveal of some sort?"

"Just tell us, please." Jade says

She thinks gender reveals and the parties that go with them are stupid. This is a special moment for her and Beck, they'll tell their friends and family later.

"Alright, well..." The doctor sighs, moving the wand around Jade's abdomen "Congratulations. It looks like you two have yourselves a perfectly healthy baby boy."

"Really?" Jade grins

"Really."

"I'll take that foot rub as soon as we get home please." She says to Beck, turning her head towards him

"Alright." He chuckles, leaning down to kiss her "I love you so much, Jade."

"I love you too." She smiles up at him "We're having a boy!"

"I know." He smiles back "And I can't wait to meet him."

* * *

There's a familiar car sitting in the driveway at Jade's mother's house when Beck drops her off after the appointment. She didn't think that her father would care so much about the gender of the baby, but she knows that Angie probably does so that's most likely why they're here. Beck comes inside with her and they're immediately met at the door by Tyler, who appears to be bouncing off the walls with excitement.

"Jade!" He exclaims "Did they tell you? Did you find out? Do you know?"

"Yes, yes, and, yes!" She jokingly mimics her little brother's energy, which causes Beck to laugh "What's gotten into you, Tyler?"

"I'm just excited to find out if the baby is a girl or a boy!" He tells her "Can you tell us now? Everyone is in the kitchen!"

"Hmm..." Jade hums "What if I tell you, and then you can be the one to tell Mom and Dad and Uncle John and Aunt Angie? What do you think, Beck?"

"I think that'll be amusing." Beck admits "What do you think, Tyler? You like that idea?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright." Jade leans down and whispers something into her brother's ear, and then he takes off running

"IT'S A BOOOOOOOOOOOY!" The eight year-old exclaims, running into the kitchen to tell the rest of Jade's family "I get a nephew!"

"Really?" Kaitlyn is grinning as Beck and Jade enter the kitchen "A boy?"

"A perfectly healthy boy." Beck tells her, placing a hand on Jade's stomach "Still measuring for a July due date."

"Oh, congratulations sweet heart." Kaitlyn smiles, hugging her daughter "You too, Beck."

"Thank you."

"Beck." John reaches out to shake Beck's hand "Congrats."

"Thank you, sir."

"I'm still not thrilled about the teen pregnancy thing, and I'm certainly not condoning it..." John says to Jade "But I must admit, the idea of a grandson is pretty exciting. Congratulations."

"Thanks, Dad." Jade smiles, opening her arms for a hug

"What's his name?" Tyler asks eagerly

"Oh, we don't know yet, Buddy." Beck chuckles "That's an issue for another day."

* * *

He's supposed to hang out with Andre and Robbie later that night, but Beck wants to go home and see his parents first. Jade offers to go with him to tell them, since he was with her when she told her family, but Beck tells her to stay home and be with her family. Besides, she has plans with Cat and Tori that night too, and he wouldn't want to cut into that.

James and Priya are in the living room when he arrives home. His father is reading a newspaper and his mother is knitting while the evening news plays on the television in the background. Beck stands in the doorway for a moment, but they don't notice him. So he clears his throat to make his presence known.

"Oh, hey son. Didn't even hear you come in." James looks up from his newspaper "I thought you were going to Andre's tonight?"

"I am." Beck nods "In a few minutes, actually. I just wanted to come tell you guys in person, well...it's a boy. The baby, that is. Jade and I are having a boy. You're going to have a grandson."

"Wow." James says, looking from his wife to their son "Congratulations, how does it feel to know that?"

He's smiling, which Beck didn't expect. His parents rarely smile when they talk about the baby, but his dad is smiling, and his mom doesn't look completely distraught for once. Beck doesn't realize it, but he's smiling too.

"Exciting." Beck admits "And a little terrifying, but mostly exciting."

"And everything still looks healthy?" Priya asks "No complications?"

"Not one." Beck shakes his head "He's perfectly healthy, and measuring right where he's supposed to be."

"That's good." She nods, going back to her knitting "Perhaps my next project should be a little blue blanket."

That makes Beck smile too. Just like his father assured him, his mother was coming around. He never doubted that she would, but it's comforting to see the proof in front of him.

He says goodnight to his parents and makes his way over to Andre's house. Robbie is already there and both of his friends greet him at the door, and then they make their way to the basement where Andre already has his Xbox set up and waiting.

"So how did the appointment go today?" Andre asks as they sit down "Everything with the little dude or dudette still good?"

Their friends didn't know they were finding out the baby's gender that day. It was Jade's idea not to tell them so that no one was pestering them throughout the day. They had both arranged to see friends that night so they could surprise them with the news.

"The little dude is good." Beck grins, grabbing his controller "He's perfectly healthy still."

"He?" Robbie asks "Like you know he's a boy or you're assuming he's a boy?"

"We know he's a boy." Beck nods "We just found out today."

"Really?" Andre exclaims "Why didn't you text us when you found out? Oh my gosh, the girls are going to flip."

"Don't say anything to them yet!" Beck warns his friends "Jade is going to tell them tonight. We just didn't say anything right away because we've been wanting to tell people in person. But yes, it's a boy."

"This calls for a celebration." Andre remarks, standing up and jogging up the stairs quickly "Stay there."

"Alright..." Beck laughs

"So do you have any ideas for names?" Robbie asks him

"Nah, not yet." Beck shakes his head "A crib is next on our list of things to do, then clothes and diapers and then a name."

"Alright." Andre reappears in the basement with three cans in his arms "No one tell my uncle I swiped these, okay?"

"Beer?" Beck laughs as he takes one of them "Really?"

"S'a special occasion." Andre tells him "You're having a little boy! This game squad is about to have a new member."

* * *

"Dammit!" Cat pouts, crossing her arms and leaning back against Jade's couch "I was hoping for a girl."

They're having a movie night just the three of them. No boys allowed, except for Tyler who had come in to say goodnight to them about half an hour prior. There's a half-eaten pizza on the coffee table in front of them, and Les Miserables is playing on the TV. Jade had waited until they had finished eating to tell her friends about the baby, and she's relieved to not have to keep it to herself anymore.

"Oh come on, Cat." Tori chuckles "We all know you'll be so excited to meet him and love him just the same."

"Well yeah, duh!" Cat exclaims "Baby girls are just way more fun to dress up."

"All babies are fun to dress up."

"I suppose."

"He's healthy, Cat." Jade reminds her "That's all that's important."

"Yeah, I know." Cat sighs "I'm happy for you, Jadey. Like _so_ happy, really I am. But now there's zero chance of you naming him Cat."

"Cat Stevens was a dude." Tori shrugs "But may I suggest Victor?"

"Cat Stevens was his stage name." Jade laughs "So no, sorry. Cat is out of the picture. And we haven't really talked about it yet, but I'm going to assume Victor is as well. Sorry, Tor."

"S'okay." Tori assures her "I'll live."

"Guess we should enjoy these last few girl's nights while we have them, huh?" Cat smirks

"What do you mean?" Jade asks her "Just because I have a kid doesn't mean we still can't hang out."

"I think she means that since the baby's a boy, they won't really be true 'girl's nights' anymore." Tori points out "Which is totally fine."

"Ah." Jade nods "Well, we still have about four months before we need to worry about that. And besides, we can always send him with the boys every once and a while. There will still be girl's nights. I promise."

They continue to watch the movie, occasionally making small-talk about the plot but mostly just watching. Eventually, Cat speaks up again.

"Soooo..." She says, making eye contact with Jade "When are we going shopping for the little guy?"

"Hopefully soon." Jade smiles "We just need to wait for our next paychecks."

Her phone lights up in her lap and she sees a text from Beck come across the screen. She smiles as she opens it and reads his message:

_just checking in on you and Little Man and wanted to let you know that i love you both. _

She moves her fingers across the screen and types out a quick response:

_we're both doing great, and we love you too._

"Baby daddy?" Tori asks when she notices Jade smiling at her phone

"Yeah." Jade chuckles

It's weird to hear Beck be referred to as that, even if it _is_ true.

"He bein' cute?" Tori teases her

"Yeah, he is." Jade grins "Just checking in."


	5. Growing Pains

"You're right." Beck agrees as he pushes against the crib to slide it into place "There's no way that this would have fit in the RV."

"We've been together for almost three years now and you haven't figured out that I'm usually right about most things?" Jade teases him

"Yeah, yeah." Beck rolls his eyes "Help me finish this."

Jade's bedroom is a light grey color with black and white bedding and accents, so they tried to make sure that the crib and the bedding that they buy for the baby matches that. His crib is slate grey and has a changing table attached with three storage drawers underneath. His bedding came with a black crib sheet and a white blanket covered in black, grey, and white chevron. They moved Jade's old bookshelf and bean bag chair out of the corner of her bedroom to make room for the crib, and Jade's mother surprised her by digging the old rocking chair she had used for Tyler out of storage. She even reupholstered the cushions to match the baby's bedding.

It's starting to seem more and more real that in just a few short months, there will be a living, breathing baby sleeping in this room as well.

"Can you believe at one point we were both small enough to fit in a bed this size?" Jade says, sliding the crib sheet onto the mattress

"Can you believe _anyone_ was ever small enough to fit in a bed this size?" Beck chuckles as he picks the mattress up and drops it into the crib "And there! Finished!"

"Babe." Jade reaches her hands up to Beck

"Oh! Sorry!" Beck grabs his girlfriend's hands and helps her to her feet "You good?"

"Yeah, just feeling cumbersome and awkward is all..." Jade sighs, leaning against Beck and resting a hand on her bump as Beck wraps an arm around her waist "God, everything is so tiny..."

"Well, babies are tiny." Beck smirks, pressing a kiss to her temple

"I can't even imagine what shopping for clothes will be like." Jade admits "Which you are more than welcome to skip out on, by the way. I get that it's not the most interesting thing in the world, but Cat and Tori seem excited about it so I'm sure the three of us can manage."

"Sounds good to me." He laughs "Just make sure you find him some 'I Love Daddy' stuff too, okay?"

"Of course."

"Alright, I've got to take my truck in before the mechanic closes." Beck sighs, turning Jade so they're face to face "I'll call you later?"

"Okay." Jade smiles as he kisses her "Talk to you then."

Beck then drops to his knees and places a hand on either side of Jade's baby bump and presses his head to her stomach.

"Son, if you can hear me-"

"He can hear you." Jade assures him "He can hear everything."

"Oh, okay. Son, this is Daddy." Beck says "I'm leaving now, but I wanted to let you know that I love you. And any time you want to start kicking hard enough for me to feel, go right ahead."

"Get out of here." Jade teases, ruffling Beck's hair

"I love you." He tells her, standing up and pressing a kiss to her cheek before grabbing his jacket off the back of her desk chair

"Yeah, yeah." She laughs "I love you too."

* * *

Beck's truck ends up needing to have more work done than he originally anticipated, which is annoying not only because it's going to cost him more money than he budgeted for, but also because it leaves him without transportation temporarily. His dad is able to drop him off at school in the mornings on his way to work, but it's more difficult getting to and from work in the afternoons. On this day in particular, his job site happens to be in the subdivision next to Andre's. His friend agrees to drop him off on their way home from school, and Jade says she'll pick him up afterwards since she'll finish work before he does.

She's twenty-four weeks now, and has had to move her seat a little further back from the steering wheel to be able to fit inside her car comfortably. The baby had kicked her for the first time that afternoon while she was at work and it was so difficult for her to keep it a secret from everyone around her, including Angie. She had promised Beck that he would be the first person to know and the first person to feel, so she kept the news to herself. Now, she's _so_ excited to finally get to tell him. She pulls up at his job site at a quarter to seven, so that she can talk to him the first moment that he's free.

When she pulls up to the house, however, she's suddenly less excited.

Beck is standing on the front lawn, leaning up against his shovel. He isn't wearing his t-shirt, but instead has it tucked into the back pocket of his work pants. Next to him stands a skinny blonde girl, about their age, clad in a bright pink bikini and aviator sunglasses. She's smiling as she says something to Beck, and he laughs and says something back to her.

Jade continues to watch their interaction, feeling her heartbeat grow more and more rapid with every second that passes. The blonde girl reaches out and touches Beck's arm, and he laughs again and runs a hand through his hair. Eventually, he picks up his shovel and carries it to the landscaping truck. Then disappears behind the house and returns with a wheelbarrow full of bricks. He wheels it into the trailer attached to the company truck, finally spotting Jade and waving to her with a smile. She waves back, but doesn't smile at all. She feels like her heart has been ripped out of her chest, and she wonders if this is something that happens on every job that he goes to.

Beck pulls his t-shirt out of his pocket and puts it back on before checking in with his boss, and then starts walking towards Jade's car. She unlocks the doors for him and he opens the one on the passenger side, siding into the seat next to her.

"Hey." He leans in to kiss her "How was your..."

He doesn't finish his question because instead of also leaning into kiss him, Jade turns away.

"What's wrong?"

"Who was that girl you were talking to just now?" She asks him "The blonde one?"

"Oh jesus christ, Jade." Beck rolls his eyes and rests his head against the back of the seat "She lives in the house where we were putting in the patio."

"Why was she-"

"Were you spying on me?"

"What?" Jade exclaims "No! I showed up a few minutes early so you wouldn't be stuck here waiting around for me! Why were you talking to the girl in the bikini?"

"She was telling me how nice the patio turned out..." Beck sighs "It's around the pool in her backyard. She was waiting for us to finish so she could go for a swim, which is why she's wearing a bikini. Can you calm down now?"

"Calm down?" Jade scoffs "She was flirting with you!"

"I can't control that!"

"You can control if you flirt back or not!" Jade reminds him "It's so easy to say 'I have a girlfriend, no thank you', but instead you smile and you laugh and you run your hand through your hair to make yourself look more charming. And don't deny that you do because it's exactly why I fell for you in the first place."

"It was harmless, Jade."

"Was it?"

"We were just having a conversation!" He almost yells "I wasn't making out with her on the front lawn for the whole world to see or anything like that!"

"Why weren't you wearing a shirt?"

"Because I've been out in the sun for four hours and its ninety degrees out." He reminds her "Are you done interrogating me? Can we go home now?"

"Whatever." Jade huffs

She shifts her car into drive and speeds away from the curb. The drive to Beck's house is absolutely silent, neither one of them says a word to the other. They're both too irritated. When Jade pulls into his driveway, Beck doesn't get out of the car.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, and I'm sorry that I did." He says to her

"You say that every time I catch you..."

"Jade I-"

"It's true, and you know it."

"Why do you always get so jealous all the time?" He sighs, rubbing his temples

"Why do you keep giving me reasons to be jealous all the time?" She shrugs, biting the inside of her cheek

"I want to me with someone who trusts me!"

"And I want to be with someone I can trust!" Jade snaps

There's silence again. The two of them look at one another, not knowing what to say next.

"Y-you don't trust me?" Beck finally asks her

"I..." Jade hesitates, so very badly wanting to say 'yes' without feeling like she's lying "I don't know."

"Jade..."

"I feel like we have this argument over and over again every few months..." She says quietly "It's not healthy."

"What are you saying...?"

"I'm saying..." Jade sniffs as she wipes a tear off her cheek "I'm saying that maybe we should take some time apart and see if it does us any good."

"What about the baby?" Beck asks "Did you forget about him?"

"No." Jade shakes her head, crying for real now "No, I didn't forget about him. We have to do this _for_ him, don't you see that? We can't raise a baby if we're arguing all the time...at least we can't raise one well. We have to figure ourselves out for his sake."

Beck feels like he could cry now too. He doesn't want to break up, he loves Jade. And he knows that she loves him. But she's right. They bicker more than they should, and there will only be more stress on their relationship once their son is born.

"Alright..." He says, his voice shaking "Let's take a break then. We can re-evaluate in a few weeks."

"Okay..."

Beck grabs his bag off the floor of the car and opens the door, stepping out onto the driveway.

"Beck, wait." Jade calls after him, unbuckling and stepping out of the car as well

"What is it?" He asks, as she walks towards him

She still has tears streaming down her face and he can barely look at her without feeling like his heart is going to break.

"Your son kicked today..." She tells him "Do you want to feel?"

"Y-yeah." He manages to smile

Jade takes Beck's hand in her's and presses it into her stomach just above where her appendix should be. There's an awkward moment between them where nothing happens, but then they both feel it. It's small, but it's there. Their son is moving and kicking.

"W-wow..." Beck stammers

"Yeah." Jade nods "He's really in there."

"That's so amazing..." Beck admits "Our little man..."

He doesn't know what to do now. Normally, he would kiss her goodnight and tell her that he loves her. But that doesn't seem appropriate right now.

"Uh, thanks for picking me up."

"Sure." She nods "I, uh, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

Beck turns to go to his RV and Jade gets back in her car. Neither one of them can believe that what just happened actually happened, but they have to acknowledge that it did.

"I'm so sorry..." Jade cries, running a hand over her bump "We're going to try and figure this out, little man."


	6. The Right Thing

'Figuring it out' proves to be harder than both Beck and Jade originally thought it would be.

They have their issues, that's not hard to see, but neither one of them wants to admit that those issues might actually be their fault. Beck doesn't always think about the consequences of his actions, and Jade often lets her jealousy get the best of her. They're both stubborn as hell, and all of those things aren't exactly a great mix.

"Maybe we were just never meant to make it as a couple." Beck sighs, placing his head in his hands "Y'know? Like, maybe the universe brought us together to teach us a thing or two...but that was it."

"Yeah..." Jade agrees "Maybe."

The break-up, while a difficult one, is clean. When their friends ask about it, they both say it was a mutual decision. That they have to do what is best for themselves and for each other.

And for the baby.

Jade never stops thinking about him throughout the entirety of the drama. Beck never knew what is was like to grow up being passed between separated parents, but she did. When she was younger, she wasn't old enough to understand why her life was the way it was. She lived with her mom, and eventually Chris, and on Wednesday's and every other weekend she saw her dad, and eventually Angie. She never really questioned it until she was in middle school and was able to pick up on social cues a bit better. The fact that her parents didn't get out of the car when they dropped her off with the other, the fact that they always sounded annoyed when they _did_ actually speak to one another...she knew they didn't like one another and only communicated because of her. And that made her feel so guilty. Thankfully, around her fourteenth birthday her parents started to grow up a little bit. They realized that they did in fact have a common ground to stand on, and that was the love that they shared for their daughter. They're in a much better place now, some might even call them friends, but it took them entirely too long to get there.

She never wants to put their son through something like that.

_We have to stay friends_. She texts him, _We're in the same friend group and it's not fair to make them choose sides, but we also have to do it for him. I can't put him through the same thing that my parents put me through._

_I understand completely and I agree with you._ Beck texts her back, _We'll always be friends, for his sake and for everyone else's._

But staying friends is easier said than done.

Once the other girls at school learn that Beck is single again, it doesn't take long for them to start trying to catch his attention. Girls from every class are trying to flirt with him and although he's still a bit upset about his split from Jade, Beck doesn't really mind the attention all that much. So on occasion, he'll flirt back. He even asks a girl out on a date to Karaoke Doke, which devastates Jade. She knew that eventually he would move on, she just thought that it would take him a few months as opposed to a few weeks.

"I don't understand why she's so upset." Beck sighs "I mean, we both agreed that breaking up would be the best option. Did she think I would just stay single for the rest of my life?"

He's sitting at lunch with Andre, Robbie, and Tori. Cat and Jade had a project to finish for one of their classes, so they elected to eat lunch in the library while they worked. It was probably for the best, Beck felt like he could speak freely to his friends without the judgement of his ex.

"Of course she didn't think that." Tori assures him "It's just..."

"Just what?" Beck groans "There's always something."

"You guys were together for three _years_." Tori reminds him "Then you break up and then less than a month later you're going out with Jessica-"

"I'm not going out with Jessica!" Beck is quick to defend himself "Jessica and I made out in the back of my car a few times and then we went on _one_ date. One. That was it, it's over now. That Alex kid she dated last year is coming home from college for the summer and she told me she'd rather go out with him."

"Alright, but still." Tori sighs "You were acting interested in other people pretty quickly..."

"Okay, but when you and Ryder broke up earlier this year, Cat and Jade kept telling with you that 'the best way to get over someone is to get under someone new', do you remember that?" Beck asks her "That seemed to be pretty good advice, didn't it? It worked out well for you..."

When Tori and Ryder broke up, Andre had been the one to comfort her. The two of them had been dating ever since.

"Hey now." Andre cuts in "Don't drag our relationship into this."

"I just don't understand why it's okay for them to give her advice like that and then be mad at me for doing the same thing." Beck huffs

"It was sort of a different situation..." Tori says quietly "Ryder was using me to get an A on an assignment and was done with me in like two weeks...you and Jade were together for three years and _really_ cared about each other."

"I still care about her!" Beck insists "She's the mother of my son!"

"And she still cares about you because you're the father of her son. Just-"

"Y'know what? I think I'm going to take a walk." Beck announces, standing up and grabbing his backpack "I'll see you guys in class later."

"One of you should go after him..." Tori suggests as Beck sulks away "I think he's mad at me."

"There's no use in trying to talk to him when he's like this." Robbie shakes his head "He's too stubborn."

"Yeah. Him and Jade always had that in common, Jade has gotten _much_ better though." Andre agrees "And he's not mad at you, Tor. He's mad because he didn't get his way. He'll be fine once he cools off."

Beck doesn't know where he'll go to cool off, though. Only seniors are allowed off of school grounds during lunch hours, and otherwise students aren't allowed to leave in the middle of the day without parent permission. His best bet is to wander the hallways until the bell rings and pray a teacher doesn't catch him without a pass.

He's mad, it's not hard to tell either. He just doesn't understand why his friends would take Jade's side over his. They shouldn't even be taking sides at all, they should be staying neutral.

Why shouldn't he be allowed to move on so soon? Don't they want him to be happy? Granted, Jessica hadn't made him happy, but she had at least made him feel a little better. What did that even matter now? Anything between him and Jessica was long over now, and they had never been trying to date each other anyways. He was just trying to get over Jade, and she was only passing time until Alex got back from school.

He doesn't know why he walks into the library, but he does. He doesn't know why he makes a beeline for Jade and Cat's table, but he does.

"Hey." Jade says when she sees him walking towards them "What's up?"

"If you have a problem with me, why are you venting to literally everyone else about it rather than just coming to me?" He snaps at her "What are we, twelve?"

"Excuse me?" Jade stands up from the table she's sitting at, which is getting harder for her to do the more pregnant she gets

"I mentioned at lunch that it seemed like you were upset with me and _everyone_ knew what was going on except for me!" He says loudly

"Mr. Oliver!" The librarian calls to him "This is the library, people are trying to work. If you're going to have a conversation, take it outside."

Beck grunts and grabs Jade's wrist, pulling her towards the hallway.

"Hey!" Cat exclaims "Don't grab her like that!"

"I'm fine, Cat." Jade assures her "Just keep working, I'll be right back."

Beck lets go of Jade's wrist and she follows him out the library doors and into the hallway. There's no one else around, but it still doesn't seem like the best place for a private conversation.

"What's gotten into you?" She asks with a sigh, placing her hand on her lower back

She's thirty weeks now. The baby is growing, the school year is almost over, she has a ton of final projects to complete in a short amount of time, and now Beck is being dramatic. She honestly feels quite overwhelmed, but she can't freak out right now. She doesn't have the energy to.

"Are you upset that I took Jessica out?" He asks her flat out

"Honestly..." She sighs "Yeah, a little."

"Why didn't you say something to me then?"

"Because I wasn't going to be a crazy ex-girlfriend about it!" Jade exclaims "How would that conversation have even gone? 'Hi Beck, I know we broke up but I'd really appreciate it if you didn't date anyone else ever again.' Do you hear how crazy that sounds?"

"Alright, alright. Don't be so dramatic, Jade."

"Oh, I'm being dramatic?" She raises an eyebrow at him "Who just stormed into the library yelling at me for no reason?"

"I had a reason!" Beck insists "You're turning our friends against me."

"What? I am not!"

"Andre and Tori just took your side over mine at lunch just now." Beck informs her "Robbie didn't say anything, but he's probably on your side too because Cat is! Its five against one and it isn't fair! I'm just trying to live my life and do what's best for me but all anyone seems to care about it what's best for you!"

"Alright, well I'm sorry that we were in a committed relationship for three years and I expected you to wait longer than two weeks before you went and hooked up with some random chick!" Jade snaps "I'm sorry that I was upset and I'm sorry that I turned to my two best friends for comfort about it because I can't turn to you anymore! I'm sorry that I got pregnant and now you have to keep in contact with me after we've broken up! But most of all I'm sorry that I keep making your life so difficult!"

"Hey c'mon now." Beck scoffs "That's not fair. Don't put all of this-"

"Cat and I have a project to finish." Jade cuts him off, holding her hands up in surrender "I have a doctor's appointment for the baby tomorrow night at six-thirty. It would really mean a lot to me if you would be there."

She turns and walks back into the library, leaving Beck standing alone in the hallway. Or at least he thought he was alone.

"Beck." A voice says from behind him

"Listen I- oh." He says as he turns around and comes face-to-face with his guidance counselor "Lane. Uh, how much of that did you hear?"

"Enough." Lane says sympathetically "I'm free for the rest of the period...would you like to come to my office for a little bit? Maybe talk about what's going on?"

"Actually, yeah. I would." Beck nods "Thanks Lane."

* * *

Beck is a no-show for Jade's appointment the following afternoon. As disappointed as Kaitlyn is in him, she can tell that Jade is even more upset. It's one thousand percent okay that she is, who wouldn't be honestly? It's upsetting enough that the two of them broke up, but now he doesn't even want to come to appointments with her.

Jade is visibly upset when they get in the car after the appointment, but Kaitlyn doesn't say anything to her right away. She doesn't want to push her to talk if she isn't ready to. It's only when she notices a tear running down her daughter's cheek that she decides to speak up.

"Oh sweetheart, I'm so sorry he didn't show." Kaitlyn reaches over and rests a hand on Jade's knee "Men can be such assholes sometimes."

"I could care less if he was there or not." Jade admits, wiping her tears away "I'm just upset that he's taking his anger towards me out on the baby."

"Things aren't good between you two right now?"

"Not at all." Jade shakes her head "We can't have a simple conversation without it turning into an argument. It's like we're..."

"Me and Dad?" Kaitlyn finishes for her

"I didn't want to actually say it, but yeah." Jade sighs "I know what it's like to have parents like that...I don't want him to have to go through the same thing...In my heart he's the perfect mix of the few things about Beck and me that are good, but my head has me terrified that we'll screw him up and he'll have the worst of both of us."

"I'm so sorry that your father and I put you through what we did..." Kaitlyn apologizes "I hate myself for it even to this day...so my only advice right now is to talk to Beck and try and find some sort of common ground. Things get a lot easier from there."

"I just don't want to fight anymore..."

"I know."

Jade doesn't say anything for the remainder of the drive. When they arrive home, she helps Kaitlyn make dinner and then they eat with Chris and Tyler before Jade retreats upstairs to her room.

She loves her son so much it hurts, which she can hardly believe. All her life she never really saw herself being the kind of mother who grew so attached, but she loves the little being growing inside of her more than she's ever loved anyone or anything. More than she ever loved Beck, even. She just wants to protect him, to keep him safe and do what's best for him. No matter how hard all of that may be.

She doesn't text Beck before she drives over to his parent's house, but she probably should have. He might not even be home, or he might...have a girl over, but she's afraid if she tells him she's coming he'll just tell her not to. So she doesn't.

Thankfully, the lights are on in his RV when she pulls into the driveway. As she slams the car door shut behind her, he sees him pull back a curtain and look out the window. They make eye contact and he disappears behind the curtains again, but his shadow moves towards the door.

"What are you doing here?" He asks as he steps out of the RV

"I should have called first, I'm sorry." She apologizes "I just...I wanted to talk and I wasn't sure you would answer if I told you I was coming. Are you busy? Do you mind if I come in for a few minutes?

"No, come on in." He nods inside, opening the door for her "Did everything go okay at the appointment? I'm sorry I didn't tell you I wasn't coming. I...I talked to Lane yesterday and we agreed that maybe me distancing myself just this one time might be a good idea. I still should have told you I wasn't coming though."

"It's alright, I pissed you off yesterday and I deserved it...but everything is good with the baby. He's still head up so we don't have to worry about him coming anytime soon." Jade says "When did you talk to Lane?"

"He saw us fighting yesterday." Beck tells her "After you went back into the library, he asked me if I wanted to talk. So I went to his office and vented to him for a little bit. It honestly felt really good to talk to someone who wasn't biased."

"That's good." Jade smiles "I...I'm sorry that I've put you in a position where you feel like our friends are biased against you."

"That's what I get for dating inside the friend group though, isn't it?"

They both laugh, and then there's silence for a moment.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" He asks her

"Oh, uh right." Jade looks down at her hands "I've been doing a lot of thinking the past few days, especially today, about you and me and how much we fight..."

"Okay..."

"And how much we're like my parents...and what that was like for me. And I thought that maybe..." She hesitates

"Just spit it out, Jade."

"Maybe we should consider giving him up for adoption." She suggests

The words feel like poison leaving her mouth, and she can't believe that she actually said it. If they weren't in the situation they were in, she would never dream of it. But she knows that she has to do what is best for the baby...even if the best doesn't involve her or Beck.

"Excuse me?"

"Beck, I know what it's like to grow up with parents who can barely stomach each other." She admits, tearing up a bit "I...I don't want to subject him to that. I love him too much to put him through it."

Beck understands her point of view. She's told him many times about the issues her parents had while she was growing up and how she often felt stuck in the middle of a war that looked like it would never end. But they can't be that bad...can they? Then again, screaming at each other in the middle of the hallway is pretty bad.

"God, you're right...we're awful." He sighs, running a had through his hair

"I don't want to give him up but-"

"Neither do I." Beck cuts her off "That's my..._our_ son. We have to do better, starting today we'll do better. For him."

"For him."

Beck hesitates before opening his arms to hug her, and Jade hesitates before going to him. But they do hug, and both of them remember that the baby growing inside of her is completely innocent in all of this.

"Can I...?"

"Sure." Jade nods, placing his hand on the side of her stomach "He's been over here a lot today."

"I'm sorry, little guy." Beck sighs, gently rubbing her bump "Everything is going to be okay by the time you get here, I promise."


	7. Waiting Game

"Cat." Jade says harshly "Stop. Touching. Me."

She's laying on her back on her bed, trying to take some of the pressure off of her back. Cat is sitting next to her, resting against the wall.

"I'm just trying to feel him kick!" Cat defends herself, pulling her hands away from Jade's abdomen "He's so strong now!"

"Don't I know it..." Jade sighs, grabbing her friend's hand and moving it to the side of her stomach "Try here."

"There he is." Cat grins as she feels the baby move beneath her friend's skin "Hi Little Man!"

It's summer now, so everyone has more free time on their hands than they used to. Not much more, but some. Jade is working full-time at Angie's office now, which occupies all of her time from nine to five every weekday. Beck has picked up some extra hours at work too, keeping his weekend schedule the same and working from noon to seven during the week now. They're not going to school together every day now, so the only time that Beck and Jade every really speak to one another is when it involves the baby.

Jade is 36 weeks and incredibly uncomfortable all the time. She feels huge. The baby has begun to turn himself so that he's head-down rather than head up, so his head is putting pressure on her pelvis and his legs are constantly kicking at her ribs. Not to mention that the temperature almost never drops below eighty-five degrees anymore so if she didn't already feel like an oven, she certainly does now.

"Do I still have to call him Little Man?" Cat asks

"Hm?" Jade hums "I mean, you don't necessarily have to. But last I checked he was still a boy."

"I meant, have you picked a name for him yet?"

"Oh." Jade props herself up on her elbows "No, we haven't talked about that yet. We've been too busy with the technical stuff."

"What kinds of technical stuff?" Cat raises her eyebrow "He's a baby."

"The legal stuff." Jade clarifies "My dad sat down with us a few nights ago and helped us figure out the whole custody thing and child support and what holidays we get him for...it was a big mess honestly. I'm glad we had my dad's help. Plus, he helped for free and normally lawyers charge you by the hour."

"Guess that's the perk of having a lawyer as a dad..." Cat chuckles

"Yeah, guess so."

"Did you get everything figured out, at least?"

"Yeah..." Jade sighs "Beck is going to pay me four hundred and fifty dollars a month in child support, if any huge expenses come up that I can't cover with that, we'll talk about it and work something out together. I'm going to be his primary care-giver, but Beck gets him every Thursday night and every other weekend. I get Thanksgiving since its an American holiday and Beck and his family don't celebrate it, I get Christmas Eve and he gets Christmas Day. He'll spend Easter with whoever has him that weekend. When we need babysitters we have to ask each other first before going to anyone else...all kinds of fun stuff."

"Sounds like it."

"Oh." Jade flashes a fake smile, batting her eyes "Did you hear the good news about Priya?"

"Beck's mom?" Cat clarifies "No..."

"She's retiring at the end of the summer."

"Alright?" Cat laughs "Why do you seem so annoyed by that?"

"Because she's offered to watch the baby while we're at work and school so we don't have to pay for a daycare. And so that 'he can be around family instead of strangers' during the day."

"Once again, I'm not really sure why you're upset." Cat admits "Daycare is crazy expensive these days, I'd jump at the chance to get it for free."

"No, I know. We're lucky." Jade nods "I just can't shake the feeling that Beck's mom doesn't like me, like she thinks I tried to trap him or something. I just don't want her to take it out on the baby or anything like that, or try to turn him against me. But we should be thankful she's come around in the first place. Beck said for the first few weeks after we told our parents, she could barely look at him."

"Well then her offering to watch him is for sure a good thing then." Cat assures her friend "And at the end of the day, that baby is going to love you no matter what anybody tries to tell him. Little boys always adore their mommies."

"Mommy..." Jade repeats "That still sounds so fucking weird."

"You'll get used to it." Cat smiles, squeezing her friend's hand tightly "I can't believe he's going to be here soon."

"Yeah, me either." Jade admits "I'm so excited to meet him but I'm so scared to be his mom."

"You'll be a great mom."

"Says you."

"Who says you won't be?"

"Me."

"Oh, Jade. C'mon." Cat rolls her eyes "You're going to be fine. Nobody knows what they're doing the first time around, and besides, you're going to have _so much_ help. You'll have Beck and your parents and his parents and me and Tori and the boys...you'll be fine."

"Thanks, Cat." Jade manages to smile, sitting up and positioning herself so they're sitting shoulder to shoulder "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You're life would probably be a lot less interesting." Cat laughs

"Yeah, you're probably right." Jade agrees "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Would you maybe want to be his godmother?" Jade asks "This is one thing Beck and I have actually talked about. Neither one of us is very religious so you wouldn't really have to do much in that department, but we both agreed that we want him to have people he can go to if he ever needs anything and doesn't feel comfortable coming to one of us about it, y'know? Like extra people who can look out for him and be there if he needs? And we thought that maybe those people should be you and Andre."

"Oh, Jadey..." Cat grins, pressing her hands to her heart "Of course! I would be honored."

"I figured that would be your answer." Jade smirks as Cat hugs her "But it still means a lot to me that you said yes."

"I'll always be there for you, Little Man." Cat bends down and says to Jade stomach "And your mommy. No matter what."

* * *

"Is he really going to fit into all of this stuff?" Tyler asks Jade, holding up a onesie

"Yup." Jade nods, grabbing the onesie out of his hand before folding it up and placing it inside of one of the dresser drawers "Believe it or not, some of these clothes used to be _yours_."

"Nuh uh." Tyler shakes his head "I was never _that_ tiny."

"Yes you were." Jade laughs "Ask Mom to show you the pictures when she gets home!"

Kaitlyn and Chris had gone out to dinner with some of their friends that evening, and left Tyler at home with Jade. Normally Jade would have rolled her eyes, what almost-seventeen year-old wants to be at home watching her kid brother on a Friday night anyways? But tonight she didn't mind. The baby would be coming in a matter of weeks and it might be the last quality sibling time that she gets with her little brother for a while. They had gone to Inside Out Burger for dinner, Jade had even let Tyler get a milkshake which was something his mom _never _let him do, and now they were back at home. He's helping her wash, fold, and put away all of the clothes and blankets she's gotten for the baby over the past few months.

"Fine, I will." Tyler insists, handing Jade another onesie out of the laundry basket

"Actually..." Jade holds the onesie out in front of her "Can you go put this one on my bed please?"

It's a white onesie that says 'Little Man' in navy blue letters. Somewhere in the basket there's also a pair of navy blue and white striped pants and a matching hat that came as part of a set.

"Why? What's wrong with it?" Tyler asks, taking the onesie back

"Oh, nothing." Jade assures him "I just want to put it in my hospital bag. I think that's what we'll bring him home in."

"Was this one of mine too?"

"No, not that one." Jade shakes her head "Cat bought that for him. She wanted to get something with his name on it, but since we haven't picked a name for him yet she got something with his nickname on it. Isn't it cute?"

"I guess." Tyler shrugs, tossing the onesie on Jade's bed and then returning to the laundry basket "Mom says if you don't pick a name soon that you're going to have to call him Little Man forever."

"Oh she said that, did she?" Jade chuckles "We're working on it."

That's a lie. They're absolutely not working on it at all. Jade hasn't even spoken to Beck in almost a week at this point. Between their jobs and their still trying to figure out their dynamic, they just haven't been able to talk about it yet.

"You better figure it out." Tyler tells her "Mom said the baby will be here before your birthday."

"That's the hope."

"Your birthday is soon."

"My birthday is in a month."

"So, the baby will be here in _less_ than a month?"

"I sure hope so."

"Is Beck still the baby's dad?" Tyler asks

"What?" Jade stops what she's doing and turns towards her brother "Of course he is. Why wouldn't he be?"

"You broke up." The eight year-old shrugs "And he hasn't been over in a while. I just thought that-"

"Tyler." Jade stops him "Beck is the baby's dad and I'm the baby's mom, nothing is ever ever going to change that. Moms and dads don't stop being moms and dads because they're not together anymore. My dad is still my dad even though Mom is married to Chr...to your dad now. Sometimes things don't work out, and that's okay."

"Do you ever wish that your dad was still married to Mom?"

"Well, technically they were never married." Jade reminds him "But no, I never wish that."

"Why not?"

"Because then I wouldn't have you." She smiles, nudging her brother's arm "And you're my favorite brother."

"I'm your _only_ brother, Jade."

"You're still a great brother." She tells him "And you're going to be a great uncle too."

"You think so?"

"I know so."


	8. Mom and Dad

"You don't want to talk about it _at all_?" Cat groans

"Of course I _want_ to." Jade sighs "I just can't. Remember how pissed off Beck got back in April when I was talking about my feelings to you guys instead of him? Do you have any idea how much worse it'll be if he finds out that I've been talking about possible names for _his child_ without him? He'll flip."

"Not necessarily." Tori shrugs

"He's super on edge right now." Jade shakes her head "I mean, we both are. But it's still not a good idea."

The three girls are walking around Jade's neighborhood together in hopes that the exercise will help induce Jade's labor. She's close to ten days past her due date now and growing more and more miserable with every second that passes. Her doctor says given the fact that she's so young, its probably better that the baby is a bit late. The longer he stays in, the logner he has to develop. Most women go late with their first anyways, and they won't induce her until she hits forty-two weeks.

"But you really don't have any ideas at all?"

"Oh, I have _plenty_ of ideas." Jade assures her friends "Well...that's not true, I have like two. But I'm sure Beck has some ideas as well...it's just that getting him on the phone long enough to actually have a discussion about it is like pulling teeth."

"Fucking Bridget..." Cat sighs "She's got him so-"

"Cat!" Tori exclaims

"Oh, is that the name of this week's love interest?" Jade raises an eyebrow at her friends "First Jessica, then Melissa, then Amber, then Tess, and now Bridget? That's okay. I'm over it, honestly. I mean, if he's jumping from girl to girl this quickly, who's to say he wasn't doing it while we were dating too?"

"He wasn't, Jade." Tori promises "He loved you, he would have never."

"Yeah." Cat agrees "He's just...he's seemed a little lost lately."

"Haven't we all?"

"Alright, enough about Beck." Tori cuts in "Let's talk about the baby some more. Just give us _one_ name that you're considering."

She does have one name that she really loves, but she won't tell anyone until she's told Beck.

"No, because if you get one out of me then you'll get them all." Jade chuckles "We have managed to agree that we want a simple name that isn't too common but nothing too out there, y'know? Like we don't want him to be one of thirty Jake's or Michael's in his class but we also don't want to name him...Rocket, or something weird like that."

"Rocket?" Cat laughs

"Laugh all you want, but there's a Rocket in Tyler's class at school." Jade tells them "I'm serious."

"That's awful." Tori admits "Don't be that parent, please."

"I won't." Jade promises

According to Tori's FitBit, the three girls walk a mile and three quarters before finally returning to Jade's house. Kaitlyn lets Cat and Tori stay for dinner, but after that both of Jade's friends return to their own homes for the evening.

"I can't believe you're going to be seventeen tomorrow." Kaitlyn frowns, watching Jade as she puts dishes away in the cabinet "My little dancing queen..."

"Something tells me there won't be much dancing tomorrow." Jade laughs as she closes the cabinet "I'll gladly watch Mamma Mia with you, though. But we might have to invite Cat and Tori back over, they both love that one."

"We can do whatever you want tomorrow, it's _your_ birthday." Kaitlyn reminds her

"Okay." Jade laughs, beginning to walk out of the kitchen "I'm going to go shower, be back in a bit."

"Save some hot water for your brother!"

"Yeah yeah."

Jade goes up to her bedroom and grabs a pair of pajamas before walking into the bathroom she shares with Tyler. There's no towels hanging on the rack on the wall so she opens the cabinet beneath the sink to grab some fresh ones, but as she does so she feels a very sharp pain in the bottom of her abdomen.

"Ah!" She winces, grabbing the counter "Tyler!"

"What?" Her brother yells from her room

"Go get Mom!"

"Why?" Tyler appears in the doorway "Hey, are you okay?"

"I said go get Mom!" She almost yells, wincing again as the pain returns

"Okay, okay!"

Tyler runs off and Jade hears him call out for their mother as he makes his way downstairs. Jade drops to her knees, still gripping the edge of the bathroom counter with both of her hands, and Kaitlyn is at her side in less than a minute.

"Jade?" Kaitlyn places her hands on her daughter's shoulders "What's wrong? Is it the baby?"

"I think so." Jade nods "I-"

Suddenly she feels something pop and there's something wet between her legs, staining her shorts and spilling onto the floor.

"I think my water broke."

* * *

"I'm going to kill him." Cat sighs, typing something on her phone quickly "I'm _actually_ going to kill him."

"Cat..." Jade sighs

"No! I get that he's the father of your child and everything, but there's absolutely _NO _reason why he shouldn't be here right now!" Cat snaps "He _knows_ how late you are, his phone shouldn't be off."

"I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation as to why he's not answering." Kaitlyn assures both girls "At least I hope there is..."

"Andre thinks he's at a movie with Bridget." Tori announces, sticking her phone in her pocket as she re-enters Jade's hospital room "So hopefully it'll be over soon and he'll check his phone."

"He did always have a thing about not checking your phone while you're watching a movie." Jade nods "Even when you're watching one at home, people being on their phone was always a pet peeve of his. Something about disrespecting the actors or something like that."

Kaitlyn had taken Jade to the hospital as soon as she realized her water had broken, and given the fact that she was having contractions and already ten days past her due date, they admitted her immediately. While nurses were hooking her up to all kinds of IVs and monitors, Jade had tried desperately to get ahold of Beck. When he didn't answer after her fifth phone call, she called Cat and Tori, who were both at the hospital in under a half an hour. It's been almost two hours since then, and Jade is about six centimeters dilated. The chances of the baby being born before midnight don't look that high, and it's likely that he'll share a birthday with his mom.

"Hey." Tori squats down next to Jade's hospital bed "How ya feeling?"

"Not great." Jade admits "The epidural hasn't really kicked in yet."

"Let's try to find something on TV." Kaitlyn suggests, grabbing the remote

"See if Friends is on." Cat says "Friends is always a good idea."

"I love that people your age love Friends." Kaitlyn chuckles "Believe it or not, it was popular when _I _was in high school too."

"Given that you graduated high school in 1994, I'm not too sure what that says about you, Mom." Jade laughs, suddenly cringing as another contraction starts to hit her "Fuck!"

"I'm right here." Tori assures her, rubbing her arm "Do you want my hand?"

"No!" Jade exclaims "I want this kid out of me!"

"Just a few more hours and he will be..."

"I know..." Jade breathes out as she starts to relax again "I would just prefer it sooner rather than later."

"Jade?" A nurse knocks on her door "You have a visitor."

"Who?"

"Me..." Beck sighs, rubbing his arm as he enters the room "I'm-"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Cat exclaims, running up to Beck "She's been here for two hours! She could have needed an emergency c-section or something! Your son could have been born without you knowing! You're so lucky that-"

"Let's go to the cafeteria, Cat." Tori says as she grabs her friend's arm and pulls her out into the hallway "I heard they have ice cream!"

"I think I'll go with them and make sure they don't get lost." Kaitlyn tells Jade, standing up quickly "Text me if you need anything, sweetheart."

Beck waits for her to walk past him and close the door behind him before he says anything else.

"I'm so sorry, Jade." He apologizes immediately "I was running late from work and I didn't check my phone at all and then we went to the movies and-"

"I don't want to hear it, Beck." Jade cuts him off "You're here now. I guess that's what's important."

"I really am sorry..."

"And I believe you." Jade tells him "Now are you just doing to stand there and stare at me for the next couple hours or are you going to sit down?"

"Right." He nods, shrugging his backpack off of his shoulder and sitting down on the couch "So, uh...what's the verdict on everything?"

"Six centimeters." She tells him "He and I will probably have the same birthday at this rate."

"Shit that's tomorrow." Beck gasps "Aw man, I'm so sorry."

"Why?" Jade almost laughs "He's the best thing that's ever going to happen to me, right? I think sharing a birthday with him will be special."

"I guess you're right." Beck smirks

They continue to make small talk until Kaitlyn, Cat and Tori return from the cafeteria.

"I'm sorry for freaking out on you." Cat apologizes to Beck "But that doesn't excuse what you did."

"I know, Cat." Beck nods "And I'm sorry too."

Cat has more she wants to say to Beck. She wants to tell him to pull his head out of his ass, she wants to tell him that he better not treat his son anywhere close to as badly as he's been treating Jade, and she wants to tell him that he owes them all a lot more than an apology. But she stays quiet. She knows that yelling at Beck will only make things worse for Jade, and she doesn't want that. So instead of yelling, she climbs into Jade's hospital bed and lays next to her, grabbing her best friend's hand and squeezing it reassuringly the way that a best friend should. Jade smiles and rests her head on Cat's shoulder, grateful for all of the support that she's given her so far that day, for the past nine months, and for the entirety that she's known her.

The rest of the evening is just a waiting game. Midnight comes and goes and Jade still isn't ready to push. She herself wasn't born until about three o'clock in the afternoon, according to Kaitlyn, but everyone in the room sings 'Happy Birthday' to her at 12:01 anyways. It's one-thirty in the morning by the time Jade is finally dilated enough to deliver the baby, and at that point Tori and Cat decide its best for them to wait in the hallway.

"I love you so much." Cat hugs Jade tightly before she leaves "Get that little guy out quick, okay? I'm too excited to meet him."

"I'll do my best." Jade tells her, squeezing her best friend's hand tightly before letting go

"I can go with them, if you'd like it to be just you and Beck." Kaitlyn offers

"No, I want you here." Jade assures her

"Alright."

"And you." Jade points to Beck "Stay up by my head."

"Got it." Beck nods, positioning himself at the head of her bed

"Let's get this little boy out, shall we?" The doctor smiles as she walks into the room "You've waited long enough."

"As quickly as possible, please." Jade chuckles, grabbing both one of Kaitlyn and Beck's hands in each of her's

"That all depends on you." The doctor tells her "When I say, push with everything that you have, okay? Ready...push!"

Jade suddenly feels so much respect for all of the women who give birth without the assistance of any pain-reducing medications because even with her epidural, every single part of her body hurts. It feels like she's being ripped apart, and Kaitlyn tells her that she basically is, which doesn't help.

"I can't do this anymore!" Jade exclaims after about thirty minutes of pushing "I don't have any energy left."

"You can do it, sweetheart." Kaitlyn assures her "You're almost there!"

"No I can't!"

"Jade, look at me." Beck turns her head so that their faces are practically inches from one another "You _can_ do this, okay? You're one of the strongest, most determined people I've ever met. We're so close to meeting him, just a few more pushes and you can hold him, alright?"

"Beck..." She's crying now

"You can do it." He repeats "I know you can."

"Come on, Jade. I can see his head." The doctor tells her "Just a few more big pushes to get his shoulders out and then I'll be able to grab him. Ready...push again!"

Jade lets out a scream so loud that it can be heard even out in the hallway. Cat and Tori are startled, and both of them agree in that moment that they're not ready to have babies and won't be for quite sometime. Meanwhile, Jade continues to push and push with everything she has until suddenly, there's no more pressure on her pelvis and a baby is crying.

"He's here, Jade!" Kaitlyn kisses the top of her daughter's head as she falls back against the pillow "You did it!"

The doctor places the pink, screaming, squirming, baby on Jade's chest and begins wiping him off with a towel. He's all blotchy and covered in blood and god knows what else, but Beck and Jade both think he's the most beautiful thing they've ever seen.

"Oh, hi..." Jade feels as if she could cry "Hi baby...I know, I know, it's so cold out here...wow...Beck, look at him!"

"He's perfect." Beck smiles, fighting tears of his own "Hey, little guy."

"Dad?" A nurse says "Do you want to cut the cord?"

"Can I?"

"Go ahead." Jade nods "Mom, look..."

"He's beautiful, Jade." Kaitlyn grins "Congratulations."

* * *

"Happy Birthday, Little Man." Jade whispers to the sleeping baby in her arms "We have the same one, how cool is that?"

The little boy is still less than an hour old, but already has both of his parents wrapped around his finger. He had been taken to be cleaned up and tested a few minutes prior, and came back with a clean bill of health. Kaitlyn stayed while Jade was cleaned up, but then went to wait in the hallway with Tori and Cat to give Beck and Jade and their son a few moments to be together as a family.

"How's he doin'?" Beck asks, sitting down on the edge of Jade's bed "Still perfect?"

"Still perfect." She confirms with a smile, adjusting the little blue hat on top of her son's head "But he needs a name you know."

"Yeah, I guess we never did get around to that..." Beck sighs "That's kind of my bad, I guess."

"Well, do you have any ideas?" Jade asks him

"What about making him a junior?" Beck suggests "Beckett James Oliver Jr."

"I dunno..."

"Oh c'mon. It's a strong name!"

"I'm really not so sure about that, I'm sorry." Jade apologizes "Besides, whoever said he was taking your last name?"

"I'm his father!" Beck exclaims, standing up from the bed

The baby flinches at the sudden change of volume in the room.

"And this is the 21st century." Jade says calmly as she rocks the baby, stroking his cheek with her finger "I'm not saying that it has to be Wes-"

"You just hate it because it's my name too and you hate _me_."

"That's not true at all and you know it."

"Give me one good reason why we shouldn't make him junior then." Beck snaps

"Beck, he's right here." Jade gestures to the baby in her arms "Can we not fight in front of him? Please? We're trying to do better for him, remember? He's less than an hour old, let's not start his life off this way."

"Sorry." Beck apologizes, running a hand through his hair and taking a deep breath "I'm sorry. You're right. We shouldn't fight in front of him...why don't you like Beckett Jr. though?"

"Because it's a lot of pressure on him, having to carry out a legacy like that." Jade explains "His father is a _great_ person, and having to live up to such high standards will be very intimidating. And imagine how he'll feel when you make it big and you're a huge movie star? We should let him be his own person...not force him to be just like you."

Beck can't help but grin as he looks at her, sitting down on the edge of the bed again.

"What?"

"You said 'when' not 'if'." He smirks

"Yes, contrary to popular belief, I care about you as a person and want you to be successful." Jade scoffs "I know that you will be..."

"Thank you, Jade. I feel the same way about you, even though I kind of suck at showing it sometimes." Beck nods, shifting his weight a bit "And I guess...your logic makes sense. Even though I would never expect him to be just like me, he's going to feel what he's going to feel and there's not a whole lot we can do about that."

"I appreciate you respecting my wishes." She tells him

"Look at _us_, being all mature and having a civil conversation."

"Yeah, well..." She laughs "They say you grow up pretty quickly once you have a kid."

"I guess so." He smirks, looking at their son "But we're back to square one with the whole name thing."

"There is one name I kinda like...well love..." Jade admits "But-"

"What is it?" Beck asks her

"I don't want you to shit all over it." She admits

"I promise I won't." He swears to her, tracing an 'x' shape over his heart "And having something to work with is better than nothing, and right now we have nothing. What's the name?"

"Miles." She tells him, smiling a little bit as she rocks the baby in her arms

Beck looks to the baby, then to Jade, and then back to the baby

"Y'know...he kinda looks like a Miles." He says

"You think?" Jade grins

"I do."

"You're not lying to try and please me?" She asks "Because he's going to have this name for the rest of his life and I don't want you resenting me because you hate it."

"Nah, I actually really like it." Beck admits "Miles Oliver has a nice ring to it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Beck smiles "But should we give him a middle name?"

"Beckett." Jade says with no hesitation "You can still pass part of yourself to him then, since it seemed so important to you. Miles Beckett Oliver."

"Sounds perfect...well, actually..."

"What?"

"How about Miles Beckett Oliver-West?" Beck suggests "We can hyphenate. That ways he's got a little bit of you, a little bit of me, and a whole lot of perfect."

"That sounds _perfect_." Jade agrees, smiling down at her son "Happy Birthday, Miles Beckett Oliver-West."

"Happy Birthday, Little Man." Beck adds "And to you too, Mom."

"Thanks, Dad." Jade smiles a bit

"Sounds weird, doesn't it?" Beck chuckles

"Yeah." She admits "But somehow I doubt we'll have any trouble getting used to it."


	9. Hello World

"Oh my god..." Cat practically sobs as she adjusts Miles in her arms "I've only known him for five seconds and I love him so much already."

"Yeah." Beck smirks, looking to Jade "He seems to have that effect on people."

"Are you sure you're really dead set on keeping him?" Cat pouts "I'll take him in a heartbeat."

"Pretty dead set." Jade chuckles a bit, but her amusement fades quickly

It's after three o'clock in the morning now, and Miles is just over an hour and a half old. The only reason Jade hasn't completely crashed by now is because she had promised Tori and Cat they could meet the baby before they went home for the evening...or, well...morning at this point. They had stayed and waited with her all throughout her labor, she at least owed them that much. But it's starting to become hard to keep her eyes open now, the adrenaline of getting to meet her baby is finally wearing off. Kaitlyn lays next to her in her bed, allowing her her daughter to rest her head against her shoulder as her friends look on at the baby in awe.

"Have you figured out a name yet?" Tori asks, looking down at the baby over Cat's shoulder

"Miles." Jade smiles sleepily "Miles Beckett Oliver-West."

"Oh, I love that." Cat gasps, rocking the baby gently "Hey Miles."

"Hi Baby Miles..." Tori coos "It feels so weird to call him anything other than 'Little Man' now."

"Not to me." Jade admits "Now that he's Miles I can't imagine him being anything else ever."

"I agree." Beck nods "As soon as Jade suggested it, I just...I knew that was his name. He's always been Miles...it just took us a little while to figure it out."

"It's a perfect name for a perfect little boy." Kaitlyn agrees as Miles starts to fuss

"Uh oh." Cat panics "Help please. The last baby I held was probably Tyler, I don't know what to do."

"He's probably hungry again." Jade sighs as Kaitlyn helps her sit up "Pass him here."

"I think that's our cue to leave, Cat." Tori says to her friend

"Why?" Cat raises an eyebrow as she hands Miles to Jade "He's just eating."

"Well, you're going to breastfeed him...aren't you?"

"Yeah." Jade shrugs "From now until he starts cutting teeth. So if you're uncomfortable with it, I suggest you get comfortable with it because you're most likely going to witness it multiple times between now and then."

"I'm not uncomfortable with it." Tori assures her "It's a natural thing, I could care less if you have your boobs out. I just figured that it's been a long day and you might want your privacy..."

"Do you know how many people have seen my vagina today?" Jade scoffs, positioning a blanket to cover Miles while he eats "I don't care if you two catch a nip slip."

"Maybe it _is_ a good idea for you two to get going." Kaitlyn suggests "Your parents are probably worried sick about you."

"My parents don't care where I am if you're around, Mrs. Parker." Cat laughs "You're like my second mom."

"While that may be true, it's almost three-thrity in the morning, girls." Kaitlyn points out "Miles will be here for the rest of your lives, you'll have plenty of chances to see him."

"Alright fine." Cat sighs, turning to blow a kiss to the baby "Goodnight Baby Miles, welcome to the world! And goodnight, Jadey. Congrats on your super cute baby."

"Yeah congrats." Tori adds "Try to get some sleep."

"Thanks guys." Jade smiles "We'll see you later."

"Come on girls, I'll walk you out." Kaitlyn tells them, guiding Cat and Tori out of the room

It's only Beck and Jade alone again in the room with the baby now, and Beck slides down on the couch to be closer to Jade.

"I promise I'm not trying to peek or anything." He swears to her "I just thought it would be more awkward if I was sitting further away from you."

"S'alright." Jade assures him "Like I said, I'm not all that self-conscious at this point."

"You know you can't do that in front of Andre and Robbie, right?" Beck chuckles "They'll freak out."

"Oh, I know they will." Jade smirks "I might do it once, just to see what happens."

"Me my guest." Beck laughs "Uh...does..."

"Hm?"

"Does it hurt?" Beck asks her

"The first time, yeah it did a little." Jade shrugs "But not anymore."

"Okay good." Beck nods "You've had enough pain today to last you a lifetime."

"I'd do it all again for him." Jade admits, looking down at the baby

"Yeah, he's pretty special isn't he?"

"He is." She smiles "Are you going to stay here tonight?"

"Do you want me to?" Beck asks "I had planned on it, but if you want me to leave I can-"

"You can stay." Jade tells him "You should stay. He's your son too."

"Okay, I'll stay."

* * *

"Hi Miles." Tyler whispers to the baby in Beck's arms "I'm Ty- your Uncle Tyler!"

"He says he's very pleased to meet you." Beck says to Tyler, shifting Miles in his arms so that Jade's brother can see his face a bit better "And that he can't wait until he's big enough to play legos with you."

"He didn't say that." Tyler laughs "He can't talk yet!"

"You're right." Beck chuckles "But I bet if he could talk, that's what he would say."

"Do you want to hold him, T?" Jade asks her brother

"Can I?"

"Of course."

"Scoot all the way back against the back of the couch." Beck instructs him "Alright now he has like, no neck muscles at all, okay? So you have to make sure you keep your arm nice and stiff so that his head doesn't droop, got it?"

"Got it." Tyler nods as Beck places the baby gently in his arms

"And don't touch the top of his head." Beck warns "His bones are still soft so his skull can't protect him yet. If he gets too heavy, jsut let me know and I'll take him back, okay?"

"Okay."

Jade can't help but smile as she watches Beck interact with Tyler. He had always been so good with her brother, and was always the first to volunteer them both to babysit whenever her mother or Chris brought it up in front of them. She knows that he'll be a great father to Miles, regardless of the circumstances.

"Isn't that just precious?" Priya practically squeals as she pulls out her phone to take a picture of Beck, Tyler, and Miles together "Say 'cheese' boys!"

"Cheese!" Tyler grins

"He's not too heavy, is he?" Beck asks

"He's not heavy at all!" Tyler assures him

"How much did he weigh?" James asks, although to no one in particular

"Seven pounds exactly." Jade answers "No more, no less."

"And he was almost two weeks late?" James raises an eyebrow "Someone must have miscalculated that due date."

"But it's okay that he came today, Mr. Oliver!" Tyler assures him "Because now he and Jade have the same birthday! By the way, happy birthday, Jade."

"Thank you." Jade smiles a bit "I'm sorry I yelled at you last night, Bud."

"S'okay." Tyler shrugs "Miles was trying to come out, so it probably hurt real bad. Even though he's little."

All of the adults in the room laugh at Tyler's still-so-innocent view of the world and everything about it. They all know that in the next year or two, that is going to start to change.

Eventually Tyler grows tired of holding the baby, so Chris and Kaitlyn take him down to the cafeteria for ice cream to celebrate his becoming an uncle. Only James and Priya are left in the room with Beck and Jade and the baby.

"Do you want him, Ma?" Beck asks

"If you wouldn't mind..." Priya nods with a smile, extending her arms to take the baby from her son "Oh, hello precious boy."

"Miles." James grins at the baby "Miles Beckett. That's a strong name."

"Jade came up with it." Beck admits

"Good work, sweetheart."

"Thank you." Jade smiles

Very rarely did she ever get praise from Beck's parents, so she always makes sure to acknowledge it whenever it comes.

"He looks like you, Jade." Priya grins at her grandson's mother

"You think so?" Jade asks her "We've been staring at him all morning trying to figure out who he looks more like."

"He has Beck's nose, I'd know that nose anywhere." Priya admits "But the rest of him is all you. He's quite handsome. You should be proud."

"We are." Jade smiles, looking at Beck "Thank you, Mrs. Oliver."

"Please, call me Priya."

* * *

"Like Miles Davis?" Andre asks, rocking the baby back and forth in his arms "That dude was dope."

"These pajamas are dope." Robbie admits, holding up the pair of Star Wars baby pajamas Jade's father and step-mother had brought with them when they visited "_Miles, I am your father_."

"Give me those." Beck laughs, snatching the pajamas out of his friend's hands

"Didn't really draw any inspiration from Miles Davis, Andre." Jade admits "It's just a name I've always loved for a boy, and when we looked at him, we just kinda knew that's who he was."

"It's still pretty rad that they share a name." Andre grins "Just wait until you get a little older, buddy. I'll teach you all about him."

* * *

"Okay, Little Man..." Jade sighs as she lifts Miles out of his carseat "This is our room. I know it's not a whole lot, but it'll do for now. What do you think?"

Miles yawns and waves his arms around as he discovers there's suddenly more space for him to move around in. He stays asleep though, exhausted from the car ride home.

"I think he likes it." Beck admits as Jade places the baby down inside his crib

"Oh you think so?"

"I know so." Beck nods "Didn't you hear him say it just now?"

"Must have missed it." Jade smiles tiredly as she folds her arms across her chest

"Whatcha thinkin'?" Beck asks her

"Trying to decide if I should shower or nap first." Jade admits, laughing a bit "First world problems, right?"

"You should shower first." Beck tells her "There's nothing like showering and putting on fresh clothes before you slide into bed. Especially if you've just spent three days in a hospital, giving birth nonetheless."

"Yeah but if I shower first he might be awake by the time I get out." Jade reminds him "And then what?"

"I'll take care of him." Beck tells her "If he's hungry, I'll wake you up. But otherwise I got him. You need to rest, Jade. You've had a crazy few days."

"Don't I know it." Jade yawns, walking over to her dresser to grab a pair of pajama shorts and a t-shirt "You sure you don't mind staying?"

"I'll stay as long as you need me to." Beck assures her "Just because we're not together, doesn't mean we can't co-parent together. I'll even stay the night if you want, hep you get through the first one. Maybe even the second. Just toss me a pillow and I'll sleep on the floor."

"You don't have to sleep on the floor." Jade shakes her head "We can take the extra mattress from Tyler's bunkbeds and bring it in here for you. And by 'we' I mean you or Chris, because I still can't lift anything heavier then...well, the baby."

"You're really okay with me staying?"

"I mean, I'm not going to let you move in or anything like that." Jade laughs "Even when we were together, we agreed that wasn't a good idea. But for the first night or two or three...sure. I'm going to need all of the help I can get, and who better to help me than his dad?"

"Alright." Beck smirks, walking over to Jade and hugging her quickly "I'll stay."

"Thank you."

Miles lets out a small coo, and both Beck and Jade creep quietly over to his crib to check on him. He's only stretching, not awake yet, and is still sleeping peacefully.

"He's so perfect." Jade admits, tearing up a little bit "Seriously, Beck. Look at him. We _made_ him."

"We sure did." Beck wraps an arm around her and kisses the top of her head lightly "My job was easy though, you did all of the hard work."

"That's true, I did." Jade admits, causing Beck to laugh "He's the only thing I've ever done right."

"C'mon, that's not true."

"It very well could be." Jade sighs "I mean look at you and me."

"Hey, we didn't work out as a couple, but we made a pretty cute kid in the process. Didn't we?"

"We did." Jade nods "Thanks, I guess."

"No, no, no." Beck tells her "Thank _you_. Like I said, you did all of the hard work."

"He was worth it."

"I'm glad you think so." Beck smiles "Now go take a long shower, I've got everything covered in here."


	10. This Parenting Thing

Most new mothers get roughly twelve weeks after the birth of their new baby to adjust to motherhood and let their bodies recover before they return to work, but Jade gets about three and a half before she has to return to school. Hollywood Arts offers to work some kind of medical leave out with her so that she can have more time to recuperate, but Jade declines. It's the start of her senior year, and she doesn't want to miss out on anything. It's certainly not the time to be falling behind in her classes either, and missing the first month and a half of school would definitely put her behind. So she starts school on August nineteenth with Beck and her friends and the rest of their classmates, just twenty-four days after Miles was born.

It isn't easy on her though, but she knew it wouldn't be. Miles is still waking up every four hours or so to eat, and then usually needs to be changed about a half hour to forty-five minutes later. Her sleep schedule is fucked. Even on the nights when Miles stays with Beck she finds herself waking up as if he was still there, almost as if she can hear him crying all the way from the RV. Not only is she sleep deprived, but she starts working again too. She needs all of the extra money that she can get so that she can provide for her son. Plus there's school on top of that, she has homework and she wants to do the winter musical so that she can invite scouts from different universities to watch her and hopefully offer her the opportunity to study in their drama programs when the time comes. There's just a lot going on, but somehow Jade is managing. She's figured out how to do so many different day-to-day things one-handed while she holds Miles, and even how to do a few things one handed while holding the baby and feeding him at the same time. Everyone is rather impressed with her, especially her parents.

Beck on the other hand doesn't struggle quite so much. Apart from having Miles on Thursday nights and then again every other weekend, his life doesn't really change much. He cuts back his work schedule a little bit so that he can rehearse for the fall play, and so he can be home earlier on Thursdays to be with his son, but other than that everything almost stays the same. He can still go out with his friends at night or on the weekends that he doesn't have the baby, he can still play video games or do his homework when he pleases, and all the other things that regular teenagers typically enjoy. He does feel guilty about it from time to time though, that he is still living an almost normal life while Jade is living almost no life at all. So every once and a while, if he knows a big project is due or if he can sense Jade behaving differently at school, he offers to come by and look after Miles for a bit while in order to give Jade some time to do whatever she needs. Whether that be working on homework, taking a nap, or simply just taking time for herself.

"He has your eyes." Beck remarks to her one evening

"You think?" Jade responds, looking up from her laptop

She's working on a college application, but Beck doesn't know that. He usually doesn't pester her for details unless they are in desperate need to make small talk, and now that Miles is around he's usually all they ever talk about.

"They're the same shape." Beck nods, propping Miles up on his lap to get a better look at his face "I know the doctor said they'll be blue for the first six months or so...but I think they're going to stay blue."

"Your eyes are brown though." Jade reminds him "Brown is dominant over everything else."

"I know that." Beck shrugs "But my dad has blue eyes, so I'm a carrier. That gives him a fifty percent shot."

"Nerd." Jade smirks, looking back to her screen "His eyes aren't even the same shade of blue as mine."

She's correct about that part. Miles still has the standard steel blue that most newborns have, while Jade's are much lighter.

"They'll get there." Beck says confidently "This kid will break hearts one day. Isn't that right, Miles? Can you smile for Daddy?"

The change in Beck's tone of voice and facial expression catches the attention of the now ten-week old infant, who tries his best to focus in on his father's face. It's still a bit hard for him though, but it is for all babies his age.

"Hi Miles." Beck says again, grinning as he bounces the baby in front of him a bit "Hi Mr. Handsome."

A large smile spreads across the baby's face as he lets out a happy gurgle as if to say 'that's right, Daddy. I _am_ Mr. Handsome'.

"That's my guy." Beck smirks "Is he sleeping through the night yet?"

"Unfortunately not." Jade sighs "I don't expect him to start on his own, either. The pediatrician told me that parents usually start sleep training around four months, so we have a few weeks still."

"You giving your Momma trouble, Miles?" Beck asks the baby

"Never." Jade laughs "Not our Little Man."

"But what does sleep training mean, exactly?" Beck raises an eyebrow "Does that mean we have to just let him cry it out in his bed?"

"More or less." Jade sighs "Which might just kill me."

"Why?"

"Just having to lay there and listen to him cry?" She huffs "Knowing I can make him stop but not being able to? That's going to be the worst thing in the world. Not to mention my family will probably be at my throat for keeping them up all night too with the crying."

"I'll do it then." Beck offers

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, I don't like it when he cries either but I think I can do it." Beck shrugs "Not to mention that my boobs don't start automatically leaking milk when I hear a baby cry even if said baby isn't my own."

"One time, that happened one time." Jade laughs "But seriously, Beck. Are you sure that's really something you want to do?"

"Want to? Not particularly. Can do? No problem." Beck assures her "Not to mention that it's just him and me there in the RV, he won't keep anyone else awake."

"That's a good point." Jade sighs "Alright then. When the time comes, you'll sleep train him."

"Look at us." Beck smirks "We're parenting."

"We've been parenting for about ten weeks now." Jade chuckles "But we're getting better at it."

* * *

"Look at him! Look at him!" Tyler cheers "He's doing it!"

"Hm?" Jade looks up from the history textbook on her lap

She had put Miles down on his stomach on a blanket in the living room to do tummy time while she and Cat and Tori study nearby. It will only be for a few minutes, and then he will return to his favorite spot nestled in Jade's left arm while she turns pages and takes notes with her right.

Tyler is on his stomach as well, laying almost nose-to-nose with the baby, so he had been the first to notice when Miles not only lifted his head, but held it up on his own.

"Good job, baby boy!" Jade gasps, opening the camera app on her phone to snap a picture for Beck "Look at how grown up you are!"

"Who would have ever thought that Jade would be one of those moms to take pictures of everything?" Tori chuckles

"I do it because if he accomplishes any milestones and his father doesn't find out about it, he'll kill me." Jade reminds them, picking Miles up and placing a kiss on his forehead "Huh, Miles? Will Daddy get mad if I don't send him that picture? I think he will."

"Will he though?"

"I mean, he got pretty irritated when I sent him a picture of his first smile rather than FaceTiming him, so I can't imagine he would be too happy if I just neglected to tell him about this one." Jade sighs, carrying Miles back over to the coffee table where they're studying "But it's good, I guess. He wants to be involved, and I should be thankful for that. Not all teen moms are so lucky."

"It's not hard to tell that Beck adores Miles." Cat assures her "Or that both of you do, for that matter."

"Thanks." Jade nods, positioning Miles in the crook of her left arm "I mean that too. Like I don't want people to think that just because we're young we don't care."

"I don't think anyone thinks that."

"I'm sure someone out there does." Jade sighs

"Is Miles done playing now?" Tyler asks, walking over towards Jade and tickling Miles' tummy

"Yeah I'm afraid so, bud." Jade tells him "Tummy time takes a lot out of him so he can only do it for a couple minutes a day."

"Alright." Tyler shrugs "I'm going to my room now."

"Okay." Jade laughs as her brother runs out of the room

"How's he like being an uncle?" Tori asks

"_Loves_ it." Jade tells her with a smile "Did you know he's the only kid in his class who has a nephew? Because he loves to brag about it."

"That's sweet."

"You and Uncle Tyler are going to get into so much trouble once you start walking." Jade says to Miles "I'm scared already."

"Guys." Cat says seriously, looking at something on her laptop

"Cat?" Jade raises an eyebrow at her "What is it?"

"If it's that damn video again, I don't want to hear it." Tori sighs "The donkey isn't really riding a skateboard, it's all CGI."

"_Not_ what I'm looking at." Cat rolls her eyes "They sent out the announcement about the winter musical!"

Hollywood Arts always does two major musical productions every school year, one in the winter at the end of first semester and one in the spring at the end of second. The winter is reserved for juniors and seniors and the spring is reserved for freshmen and sophomores, that way the younger students have equal chances to participate without the older students taking all of the parts. Last winter the juniors and seniors had done Legally Blonde, and it was a big hit. Jade had been cast as Vivienne and Cat as Margot, and both parts suited them perfectly. Jade had actually discovered she was pregnant with Miles about two weeks before they started their final tech rehearsals, and didn't tell a soul out of fear they would give her part to her understudy instead.

"And?"

"It's a good one." Cat grins, hugging her laptop to her chest "You'll be excited."

"C'mon, Cat. Before Miles turns one." Jade sighs "What's the show?"

"Grease!"

"Interesting." Tori shrugs, then goes back to her homework

"Still not going to audition this year?"

"Nah." Tori shakes her head "Musical theater isn't really my thing. I would prefer to sing as myself then to sing as a character."

"Whatever, better odds of us getting good parts." Cat laughs "You're auditioning, aren't you Jadey?"

"That's the hope." Jade nods "I mean, Beck got to do the fall play, so I should get to do the winter musical, right?"

"Right." Cat agrees

"Oh my gosh, you'd make the perfect Rizzo." Tori tells her

"Well hopefully I that's the part I get." Jade laughs "I'm not nice enough to pull off Sandy and I've worked too hard to play any of the other parts. But I suppose..."

"What?" Cat asks her "Jadey c'mon. You have to audition!"

"Rizzo has a pregnancy scare though, doesn't she?" Jade recalls

"Why does that matter?" Tori asks as Miles lets out a squawk "Oh."

"You can handle any shit that anybody throws at you, Jadey." Cat assures her

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I want to." Jade admits "People can say whatever they want about me, but if anyone drags Miles into it I'll kill them."

"I doubt it'll be anything more than ironic." Tori points out "Nobody is gonna say anything stupid and risk getting their part taken. Besides, we don't even have confirmation that Jade has the part yet. No offense, Jade."

"None taken."

"Hey." Cat gets up off of the couch and kneels down on the floor next to Jade "You can't let your fear of what people may think of you keep you from doing what you want. It doesn't matter what you do really, because you'll never be able to please everyone. So just please you. Do you want to audition?"

"Of course."

"Then audition."

"Yeah, mind over matter." Tori adds "Those who mind don't matter and those who matter-"

"Don't mind." Jade nods with a sigh, looking down at Miles "What do you think Little Man? Should Mommy audition for Rizzo?"

"Yes Mommy!" Cat says in a baby voice, moving Miles' hand around "And when you get the part you should send videos to _all_ of the colleges so that they give you money to go to their school!"

"That sounds like a great idea." Jade grins, pressing a kiss to the baby's cheek "Smart thinking, Miles."

"Did you talk to Beck yet?" Tori asks seriously

"About?"

"You know what about." Tori tells her "The college applications."

"Oh." Jade nods "No, I haven't. I'm waiting until I find out if I get in or not before I mention it to him. It's not worth having an argument over if I can't even get in."

"It's going to be so awesome if you do though." Cat nudges her

"I guess we're just going to have to wait and see." Jade shrugs "However, we do have a history exam tomorrow, and we should probably get back to studying."


	11. Choices

Beck hasn't lost any interest in girls now that Miles is around, and he continues to date. He and Jade come to the agreement, however, that they won't introduce Miles to any new partners either of them have until they know for sure that said partner will be around for a while. They also won't introduce him to anyone without the permission of the other. No girl that Beck is interested in stays around long enough to meet Miles in the first semester of their senior year though. He's not trying to be a player, even though it looks like he is, he's just trying to find some sort of _connection_ with someone. No one that he takes out or hooks up with seems to be looking for anything serious, it's all just superficial to them. He's breaks things off with five different girls from the time Miles is born to final exam week of their first semester of school.

Jade doesn't date at all, she doesn't have time to. She's too busy going to school, and working, and taking care of Miles, and rehearsing for the winter musical. Not to mention that she doesn't really think it makes a lot of sense for her to be dating right now anyways.

"I'm a lot to handle, I realize that. And that's even before I tell anyone about Miles." Jade tells Kaitlyn one night "Besides, we're about to graduate. There's no use in trying to start a relationship with someone who isn't even going to be here in a few months anyway."

"I just don't want you to be lonely." Kaitlyn sighs

She sees how busy that Jade has been lately, trying to keep up with everything that's piled onto her plate. Her daughter had recently told her that Cat Valentine and Robbie Shapiro had started dating, and in addition to Tori and Andre going out as well, that left only Jade without a boyfriend at the moment.

"Oh, I'm not lonely." Jade assures her, picking Miles up off of his play mat and pressing a kiss to his cheek "Miles is the only guy I need in my life. Isn't that right, Little Man?"

The baby grins at his mother and coos happily as she adjusts him in her arms. He's a mama's boy for sure.

"What about me?" Tyler whines from the couch

"And you too of course, T." Jade chuckles

Miles is just newly four months old when it comes time for the performances of the winter musical. He stays with Beck those three days, even though it's technically not his weekend, so that Jade doesn't have to worry about him and can just focus on her part. Beck is happy for the extra time with Miles, he feels like every time he sees his son he's grown or reached another milestone, but for three and a half days it's just the two of them in his RV having guy time. Except for Saturday afternoon, when Beck takes Miles to school with him to see his Mommy and Aunt Cat perform in the musical.

"Do you see him yet?" Cat asks as Jade peers through the curtain

They had both gotten the roles they auditioned for, Cat as Sandy and Jade as Rizzo. Just as Cat and Tori had assured her, Jade doesn't catch any flack from her cast mates about the pregnancy scare storyline, although someone had snickered in the audience at opening night on Thursday when it came time for that particular scene. There hadn't been any issues since though.

"Yeah." Jade smiles "He's in the back with Beck and Robbie. Oh! And he's got a little dress shirt on, that's so cute!"

"Not Miles!" Cat rolls her eyes, peeking her head out from behind the curtain as well "Leonard Trumbull."

"Cat, I honestly don't know what he looks like." Jade admits "We've only ever spoken on the phone."

"He's like our parents' age." Cat tells her "Tall, dark hair...second row. Oh my god, he's in the second row!"

"It'll be fine." Jade assures her friend, pulling the curtain closed and putting on her Pink Ladies jacket "It's just another show."

"Right." Cat nods, smoothing out her skirt "Just another show."

"I'll see you out there, Sandy." Jade nudges her friend with a smile "Break a leg."

"Thanks, Rizzo." Cat winks "You too."

The show goes on with minimal issues. One of the dancers loses his shoe during Greased Lightning and Kenickie sneezes in the middle of one of his scenes, but nothing too earth-shattering or show-ending. Jade nails all of her solos and takes her bow at curtain call feeling rather confident in herself.

"There's my Little Man!" Jade grins as she walks up to Beck and Miles after the show "Hi Miles!"

"Hi Mom!" Beck picks up Miles' hand and waves to Jade as she approaches them "I got you flowers!"

"Aw, thank you Miles!" Jade grins as Beck hands the bouquet of roses over to her "Thank you, Beck."

"Don't thank me, they're from Miles."

"Right." Jade winks

She's still dressed in her costume from the final scene and curtain call, but she wanted to come out and see Miles before she changed so Beck could take him home for his nap.

"The show looked great." Beck tells her as she takes Miles out of his arms

"Yeah?" She smiles "You think so?"

"Yeah, I'm seriously impressed." Beck admits "So was Miles."

"Did you like the show Little Man?" Jade tickles the baby's tummy and kisses his cheek, leaving a bright red lipstick stain behind

"He didn't fuss once." Beck informs her "I thought for sure we'd be watching on screens in the lobby the entire time because he wouldn't be able to handle it...but he sat and was mesmerized by everything the entire time. I think we might have a little music man of our own on our hands here."

"I mean look at his parents." Jade laughs "Of course he's interested in performing."

"Of course." Beck chuckles, pulling out his phone "Do you want a picture with him?"

"Yeah duh."

She positions Miles in her arms so that there's no way he can possibly avoid looking at the camera, and tucks the roses across her front so that they're not blocking either of their faces. Beck snaps a few pictures and then an additional one of Jade kissing Miles on the cheek before showing them to her for approval.

"Oh, you're so cute." Jade tells Miles as she looks at the pictures "And so photogenic."

"Well, he is _my_ son." Beck smirks

"And mine." Jade reminds him with a laugh

"Jadey!" Cat exclaims as she emerges out of the crowd of people in the auditorium "Leonard Trumbull wants to talk to you!"

"Who's-" Beck begins to ask, but is startled by Jade placing Miles back in his arms

"I'll explain later, hopefully." Jade tells him, kissing Miles again "I love you Little Man. Be good for Daddy tonight, okay? I'll see you tomorrow Beck."

"Right, tomorrow." Beck nods as the two girls run off

"Did he really ask for me specifically?" Jade asks Cat as the two of them weave through the crowd of people towards the backstage area

"Yes!" Cat exclaims "He came backstage looking for both of us, and I told him I would go find you and bring you back."

"Did he seem happy with the performance?"

"Hard to tell." Cat shrugs, pushing the stage door open again "They're supposed to have that neutral demeanor, ya know?"

"Right."

"Mr. Trumbull!" Cat calls out to a man in a dark suit "This is-"

"Jade West, I recognize you from your audition tape." The man extends a hand for Jade to shake "I'm Leonard Trumbull and I'm very pleased to finally meet you."

He's middle-aged, but still has a very full head of dark hair. His skin is tanned, like he just got back from a long beach vacation. His eyes seem kind but Jade doesn't want to assume so just in case he isn't.

"You as well, sir." Jade smiles, hoping that she isn't coming across as too eager

"You two should follow me." Leonard nods towards an empty dressing room "I think we have a lot to discuss."

* * *

"Everything alright?" Beck asks as he pushes the RV door open for Jade to come in "You sounded real serious on the phone."

"For now everything is." Jade nods "Hi Miles, baby!"

The baby is laying on his stomach on a blanket on the floor, playing with a stuffed animal. When he looks up and sees Jade, a huge grin spreads across his face. Usually Jade would pick him up and shower him with love right away, but she wants to talk to Beck about something important first.

"For now? What do you mean by that?"

"So, you know how Cat and I ran off real quick after the show yesterday?" Jade begins

"Yeah." Beck nods "What was that all about?"

"Leonard Trumbull wanted to talk to both of us." Jade explains "He's a recruitment scout from New York University and he flew out to see Cat and I perform yesterday. I sent them an audition tape from Legally Blonde a few months ago and Cat flew out over Thanksgiving Break to audition in person-"

"Wait, NYU?"

"Yeah." Jade nods, resisting the urge to grin endlessly with pride "Uh...there's not really an easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it. I want to go to school at NYU in the fall and I want Miles to come with me."

"No." Beck answers quickly

"No?"

"You're joking, right?" Beck scoffs "I'm not letting you move my son all the way to the other side of the country!"

"Beck, they're offering me a scholarship that's going to pay for ninety-five percent of my tuition." Jade informs him "I can cover the rest with my FAFSA. Not to mention that they picked _me_ out of like five hundred different applicants."

"They picked Cat too, didn't they?"

"They did."

"Of course." Beck nods "So, the two of you take Miles and run off to New York to live out your Carrie Bradshaw fantasies and I'm stuck here paying child support for my son who I'm only going to see twice a year."

"You'll see him more than that."

"Oh, so you're going to fly him back here every other weekend to keep up with the custody agreement?"

"No." Jade sighs "We'd have to work something else out."

"I don't want to work anything else out." Beck tells her "I like it the way things are now."

"Okay, but things are going to change next year whether we want them to or not." Jade reminds him "He's going to be older and we're both going to be in school full time, probably in different places-"

"I won't be in school." Beck shakes his head

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not going to college." He tells her

"I thought you were applying to UCLA?"

"I did apply." He tells her "And I got in, but I don't want to go. I can't learn what I want to learn from sitting in lectures for fifteen hours a week. I want to learn about acting through experiences, so I'm going to work full time next year and go on as many auditions as I can. Hopefully I book something."

It won't take him that long to book something major, Jade knows that already. Beck is a _phenomenal_ actor and someone somewhere is going to recognize that soon enough.

"Alright." Jade nods "If that's what you want, then go for it. You have my full support."

"I was going to do it with or without your support." Beck tells her "But I appreciate you giving it."

"Of course." Jade tells him "But Beck..."

"Hm?"

"I _want_ to go to college." She reminds him "Remember when we made the decision to keep Miles, that was my one condition."

"I don't understand why you can't go to UCLA or USC or somewhere else in the area."

"I applied both of those places." Jade says, looking down at her hands "But those programs weren't very competitive...and they aren't offering me anywhere close to the benefits that NYU is. I'm trying to make the best life for myself that I can so I can take care of Miles...I think the best opportunities for both me and him are in New York..."

"I can't not see him." Beck admits, tears forming in the corners of his eyes "He's my son!"

"My whole family is still going to be here." Jade reminds him "It's not like I'm taking off and never coming back. We'll be home for all of the major holidays, and for a few weeks in the summer around his birthday. Plus you'll always be more than welcome to come out and see him whenever you want."

Beck doesn't respond to her but looks sadly at Miles, who is still happily on his play mat and completely oblivious to his parents' argument.

"It won't be forever, either." Jade adds "Just for school for those four years and then we'll come back to Los Angeles. This is where the jobs are, but New York is where I can get the tools to help me secure those jobs."

"So, when you're finally back for good, he'll be five..." Beck sighs "Four whole years of his life communicating by phone calls and FaceTime."

"Beck, you will _see_ him." Jade says sternly "In person. I'll make sure of it."

"I can't make this decision right now." He tells her "Just...just take him home and I'll see you at school tomorrow."

* * *

Beck doesn't say a word to Jade at all the following morning when she drops Miles off with Priya, or at all during the first half of the school day.

"I told him about New York, finally." Jade sighs to Cat and Tori, picking at her salad "He didn't take it well."

"I knew he wouldn't." Tori admits "He doesn't exactly respond well when he doesn't get his way."

"Yeah, he's stubborn like that." Jade says "I just-"

"Jade?" Beck is suddenly standing next to their table "Can I borrow you for a second?"

"Sure." She nods, standing up from the table "I'll be right back, guys."

She follows Beck over to the small parking lot next to the Asphalt Cafe. Normally, he parks his truck in the student lot but he must have been running late today because it's waiting for them just a few feet away from the lunch tables. Beck pulls down the tailgate and climbs into the back and Jade does the same, dangling her legs over the back of the truck.

"What's up?" She asks him

"I thought a lot about your whole New York thing..." Beck admits "I spent most of last night trying to come up with an argument as to why he should stay here with me while you go to school, but I couldn't make it convincing enough. He can't spend the next few years of his life in that little RV."

"I can't imagine the apartment we find will be all that much bigger."

"It will be though." Beck sighs "And he'll get to go to daycare and meet other kids, not just be with my mom all day."

"Did you talk to your mom about this at all?" Jade asks him

She and Priya are only just now to a point where they are getting along, and she doesn't want to mess that up by taking her grandson away from her.

"I did, yeah." Beck nods "She told me to get my head out of my ass and think about what's best for my son."

"What do you think is best for him...?"

"Interrupting his normalcy as little as possible." Beck tells her "And normalcy for him is living with you a majority of the time. He needs consistency. Your life at school will be consistent, I have no idea what's in store for me after graduation."

"So..."

"So, accept the offer from NYU." He sighs "Take Miles with you, and do your very best so we can give our son the best life that we possibly can."

"Beck..." Jade is almost speechless "Thank you."

The two of them share a brief hug, but a meaningful one.

"You're welcome." He says to her quietly "But..."

"But what?"

"I want to work out a new custody agreement that ensures I'll still get time with him." Beck adds "I know you'd never purposely keep him from me, but we never know what the future has in store. It's better to make a plan when things are good so that we're protected in case things get bad."

"Of course." Jade nods "I'll get my dad to help us figure something out."

"Okay." Beck agrees "I, uh...I never congratulated you, by the way. On getting into the program? That's a really huge accomplishment, Jade. I'm really proud of you. I know Miles would be too if he could understand."

"Thanks, Beck." Jade smiles a bit. "I'm really excited about it."

"You should be." He tells her "You're going to do great things, Jade."

"So will you." She assures him "And when you make your first big movie, Miles and I will be the first ones in line to buy tickets."


	12. Milestones

"Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma-"

"Little Man..." James Oliver chuckles softly as he bounces his grandson in his arms "Shh...just a few more minutes and then you can have your mama and dada, okay?"

He's pacing back and forth in the back of the Hollywood Arts auditorium as Principal Helen reads off the names of each member of the graduating class. The ceremony has fallen on one of Beck's weekends, so Miles stays with James and Priya throughout the duration. The now ten month-old isn't really one for being quiet or sitting still these days, he'd much rather be crawling around on the floor or climbing all over Daddy's shoulders or singing something, so he was growing a bit restless just sitting on Priya's lap not doing anything but watching the people in funny outfits walk across the stage. His grandmother, however, was beginning to lose patience with him. Her baby boy is graduating high school, and he isn't going to college so this will probably be the first and last time she ever sees him graduate anything, she wants to be taking as many pictures as possible. Comforting a fussy grandson is not on the list of things she wants to be doing in that moment, as much as she really does love Miles, so James is the one who opts to stand up with him and keep him from distracting the other parents sitting around them in the auditorium. Priya already took countless pictures of Miles and Beck together, with Beck is his graduation cap and gown, before they left for the ceremony, but once he has his diploma she wants to get a few more. Then they'll pass Miles off to Jade and her family so they can get their own pictures together as well.

James has to admit, he is quite proud of his son. Even though he's choosing not to attend a university like the rest of his friends are in the fall, he still has a lot to show for himself upon graduating from high school. He's really stepped up over the past eighteen months or so and become quite the responsible individual, and a very caring father to a beautiful little boy.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Hollywood Arts graduating class of 2014!" Helen exclaims

The auditorium erupts with applause and confetti canons in the front shoot off a plethora of streamers, and all of the noise startles Miles. His bottom lip begins to quiver as he looks up at his grandfather, before hiding his face in his shoulder.

"Oh buddy..." James laughs, bouncing the baby a bit in his arms as he weaves through the crowd of people to return to his wife "It's alright! It's just noise!"

"We should meet him out in the lobby!" Priya suggests as her husband approaches her "It's too loud in here for the baby."

"I think you're right." James nods, and immediately turns around to find the exit

There are still quite a few people in the auditorium's lobby, but it's much more open and nowhere near as cramped as inside. Miles seems much happier, and is quite entertained by laughing at his reflection in the large glass windows on the exterior walls.

"Mom! Dad!" Beck calls out to them

He's still in his gown, but has removed his cap by now and is carrying it along with his official diploma.

"My baby!" Priya opens her arms to hug him "I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks Ma." Beck kisses her cheek "Dad."

"Son." James shakes Beck's hand "Congratulations."

"Thanks Dad." Beck grins "Hey Miles!"

"Ma ma ma ma"

"No." Beck chuckles, taking the baby from his father "Da-da. I'm Dada."

"He'll get there." Priya assures him "The 'm' sound is a lot easier for them to make than the 'd', it's more natural."

"I know, I actually think it's kind of funny." Beck admits "And he _is_ quite the mama's boy. Aren't you, Little Man?"

"Oh, see if he'll let you put your cap on him." Priya suggests "Oh my goodness, that is just precious!"

"Take the picture quick." Beck tells her through smiling teeth "Who knows how long he'll put up with this."

But Miles doesn't mind the cap. In fact, he's actually quite mesmerized by the tassel hanging off of it.

"Oh stop." A voice from behind them gasps "That's too cute!"

"Hi Mommy!" Beck turns Miles around to face Jade "Look Miles!"

"Mama!" Miles exclaims, clapping his hands

"Hey dude!" Jade tickles her son's stomach "Do you guys want me to take a picture of the four of you real quick?"

"If you wouldn't mind, yeah." Beck tells her, placing his cap back on top of his own head "That would be great."

"Mama..." Miles whines as Jade grabs Priya's camera and steps back from all of them

"Just a second, baby!" Jade says in a happy voice "Look at me please! Smile!"

"Smile, Miles." Beck bounces the baby up and down "Did you get one?"

"I think so." Jade nods as she hands the camera back to Priya "He smiled a bit, but I can't promise he was looking."

"That's okay." Priya assures her "We got some good ones back at the house."

"That's good." Jade smiles as she takes Miles in her arms "Beck? I'll just drop him off after we're done with our pictures, you don't need to wait around for us to finish if you don't want to."

"Alright." Beck shrugs "Thanks, Jade."

"No problem."

"Let's get one of the three of you!" James suggests "Something for Miles to look back on when he's older."

"That okay?" Beck asks Jade

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Alright." He smirks, slipping an arm around her waist and smiling into his mother's camera "Smile for Grandma, Miles!"

* * *

"Where are Cat and Jade tonight?" Andre asks, wading into Tori's pool

It wasn't too often that both girls were absent from group get togethers, especially when it gave Jade a chance to see Miles on a weekend that he's with Beck. The two are getting along much better now, but neither of them would ever turn down the opportunity to spend extra time with their son.

"They're in New York for the weekend." Robbie explains

"Yeah." Beck nods in agreement as Miles splashes around in his arms "They're looking for an apartment."

It's the middle of June and they're still quite a ways away from anyone moving or going away to school, but Cat and Jade's parents didn't want to save the apartment shopping until the last minute. Especially in that competitive of a market.

"They're not going to stay in dorms?" Andre raises an eyebrow at them

"Jade can't." Beck nods towards the baby in his arms "No kids."

"And you know those two, they're inseparable. They don't want to find other roommates." Robbie adds "So, they're going to find an apartment somewhere."

"Ah. That makes sense." Andre nods "How ya doin' with that, man? The whole 'kid moving to the other side of the country' thing?"

"I mean, I don't love it." Beck admits "But it's what's best for him so how can I stop them?"

"Are they going to be there year-round?"

"That seemed to be their plan." Robbie nods "Obviously they'll come home for holidays and special occasions and stuff, but as far as I know they plan on staying there and working during the summer so that they don't lose the apartment."

"That also makes sense."

"Miles won't be there during the summer though."

"He won't?"

"Yeah, he won't?" Tori asks, emerging from the house

"Oh, hey Tor." Beck greets her "And no, that's part of our new custody agreement. He'll live in New York with Jade for a majority of the year, but he'll spend all of June and July here with me."

"How's he going to get back here?"

"Either she'll fly out here with him and then go back or I'll fly out to get him and bring him back." Beck shrugs "But it gives me time with him and it gives her an opportunity to work a little more in the summers, and have a bit more freedom to go out and have some fun maybe."

"Cat will make sure that happens." Robbie chuckles

"I know she will." Beck laughs "Which will be good for both of them."

"You're still going to fly out and visit them, aren't you?" Robbie asks him "I'm going to."

Robbie is going to be attending University of South Carolina in the fall, he'll still have to travel quite a ways to visit Cat, but not nearly as far as Beck will have to travel to visit Miles. Andre is attending Berklee College of Music in Boston, and Tori will be staying the closest out of all of the people going away to school and attending University of California -Berkeley.

"They've promised me that there will be a sofa bed for me to sleep on when I visit." Beck nods "So I plan to, yeah. It just all depends on work and what kind of auditions I can get."

"Maybe you'll land something that is filming out there." Tori says "Wouldn't that be convenient?

"It would be very convenient." Beck chuckles, looking down at Miles and kissing the top of his head "But convenient hasn't really been in the cards for me lately."

* * *

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Miles. Happy birthday to you."

The baby looks at the cake in front of him. Can he eat this? Mommy and Daddy aren't trying to pull it away from him, and everyone is smiling. He must be allowed to eat it, right? Hesitantly, Miles reaches out and grabs a fistful of cake and frosting in his hand and smashes it into his mouth, earning a chorus of laughter from everyone surrounding him.

He's clad only in a diaper, sitting in his high-chair in Chris and Kaitlyn's kitchen, smashing a white cake with a bright blue number one frosted on top of it. Beck and Jade are on either side of his high chair, encouraging him to tear into the cake and eat as much as he wants. All of his grandparents are in attendance for his party, as well as his Aunt Cat, Aunt Tori, Uncle Robbie, Uncle Andre, and Uncle Tyler.

"Is that yummy?" Jade asks him, brushing her hair behind her shoulders so that it doesn't get any frosting in it

Miles holds a fistful of cake out to her as if to say, 'Here Mama, try some! It's your birthday too!'

"Oh, no thank you, baby." Jade laughs, pushing his fist away "That cake is just for you."

Miles' interest in the cake doesn't last vey long once he smashes it to bits and licks up most of the frosting, so Jade carefully picks him up out of the high chair and carries him upstairs at an arm's length to give him a bath and change him into a fresh outfit before he opens presents.

"Wa!" Miles giggles, splashing around as the water fills up the tub around him

"Wa_-ter_." Jade articulates "Good job."

"How's it going in here?" Beck asks, appearing in the doorway

"Good." Jade tells him as Miles splashes some water onto her jeans "Hey watch it, mister. It's not just your birthday, remember?"

"Need any help?" Beck laughs, stepping into Jade and Tyler, and now Miles', shared bathroom "I care a little less about my outfit and hair."

"Sure." Jade scoots back a bit to make room for Beck to sit

"Dada! Wa!" Miles exclaims

"Yeah, _wa-ter_." Beck chuckles "Good job, bud."

"I can't believe it's already been a year..." Jade says quietly "Where did the time go?"

"They say that happens once you have kids." Beck sighs, gently rubbing baby shampoo into Miles' hair "The first year flies by, but the rest of them go even quicker."

"Do you remember how small he was?

"Yeah." Beck nods "Do you remember how scared we were?"

"Yeah." Jade nods "Honestly, I'm still pretty scared."

"Me too." Beck admits "I don't think I'll ever stop worrying about him."

"Me either." Jade agrees "But they say that happens once you become a parent too."

"Well, we kept him alive for a whole year." Beck reminds her "He's happy and he's healthy. And we went a whole year without slitting each other's throats too."

"We came close a few times..."

"But not as many times as we did while you were pregnant."

"That's true." Jade laughs "Look at us, growing up."

"Speaking of growing up..." Beck reaches into the chest pocket of his flannel shirt and pulls out a small, wrapped package "This is from Miles, he says 'Happy 18th Birthday'. Seriously, he had a card all picked out too. But he's been really into ripping things these days, and we didn't have time to replace it."

"Beck..." Jade takes the box in her hands "You didn't have t-"

"I didn't do anything." Beck assures her "It was all him."

Jade can't argue with him, Miles had done the same thing on his eighteenth birthday too. She bought him a new pair of work boots and signed the card from the baby.

She lifts the lid off the box to reveal a silver necklace with a simple charm in the shape of the letter 'M'.

"M for Miles?" She clarifies

"M for Miles." Beck nods "Happy birthday, Jade."

"Thank you, Miles." Jade smiles at the baby, securing the necklace around her neck "Thank you, Beck. I love it."

"What can I say?" Beck laughs "The kid has good taste."

"We should get him back to his party." Jade sighs "I'm sure all of those boxes downstairs are full of toys for him to open."

"I'm sure you're right." Beck chuckles "And I'm sure they _all_ make a lot of noise."


	13. City Boy

Miles stays with Beck when Jade and Cat first make their move to New York. Jade, her mother, and step-father are going to drive there in her car, and the four day journey is certainly not suited for a newly one year-old child. Once they arrive, her father and step-mother will collect Miles from Beck and fly out to New York with him. They'll visit for a day or two and then Kaitlyn, Christopher, John, and Angie will fly home with Cat's parents, and Jade, Miles, and Cat will start their new lives in the city together.

Beck hugs Jade goodbye when she leaves and wishes her luck. Despite their differences and disagreements, she's still the mother of his son and he still considers her to be a friend, it will be odd not having her around all the time. It's going to be odd not having any of his friends around all the time. Everyone is leaving Los Angeles for the time being except for Beck. Jade cries when she says goodbye to Miles, knowing that she's about to go the longest she's ever gone without seeing him. A weekend with Beck is one thing, but a full week in Los Angeles while she's out in New York is a completely different story.

"Look at the view!" Cat squeals, bouncing around the living room "We get to wake up to that every day!"

Their apartment isn't technically in the city, it's across the Hudson River in New Jersey. They'll commute to campus every day, but by train it will only take them around ten minutes. Living across the river is saving them thousands of dollars in rent, and even though they'll be spending money on metro cards, they're still better off. Not to mention the neighborhood is more kid friendly than Manhattan would be, and Miles will be happier.

"Who's room is who's?" Chris asks, assisting Cat's father in carrying Jade's bed frame

"Miles and Jadey get the bigger room." Cat points to the bedroom on the left "Since they have to share."

"Got it."

The apartment is two bedrooms and one bathroom. The bathroom is just inside the door and there is a bedroom on each side of the living room and kitchen space. As Cat had said, Jade and Miles were going to be sharing a room so they received Cat's blessing to take the bigger one. It's only bigger by a square foot and a half or so, but Cat knew that as Miles grows that square foot and a half is going to make all the difference to Jade.

"I can't believe this." Jade shakes her head, looking at the box in front of her "I should have just gotten another crib, he's not old enough yet."

"He'll be fine." Kaitlyn assures her "You were only a few months older than him when we put you in your toddler bed."

"But he's not a few months older, he just turned one! He can't even walk yet!"

"Something tells me he'll learn real quick." Cat's mother chuckles "Being around all of those other kids in the daycare? He'll want to keep up."

The university has a childcare center where Miles will go during the day. She's an enrolled student, so the fees get added on to her tuition, which is mostly paid for by scholarship. The children in the early childhood room range from three months to three years, so Miles will be in the company of all kinds of children.

"Let's let Chris and Mr. Valentine worry about the furniture right now." Kaitlyn suggests to Jade "Mrs. Valentine and I can take you girls to the store to get some essential basics, how does that sound?"

"Sounds good." Jade laughs "We need toilet paper."

John and Angie arrive with Miles the following afternoon, and the little boy is more than content to crawl around the apartment for _hours_ exploring the new space. Not even five minutes after all of his grandparents leave to go to their hotel for the night, he's passed out in Jade's arms, exhausted from the excitement of the day. Jade gently lays him down in his brand new toddler bed tucked into the corner of her bedroom and pulls the blankets over him. He never stirs and he seems to relax instantly into the mattress. He looks so peaceful.

"Welcome home, Little Man." She whispers, brushing some of his hair out of his face "The next few years are going to be quite the adventure."

* * *

Miles loves to ride the train. He loves looking out the window at all the tall buildings rushing past, and he really loves when they go over the water and he can look down and see all of the boats going by. He gets to ride the train _every morning_ with Mommy and Aunt Cat on their way to school. Jade can already tell her son is going to be a real city boy. The noise from the traffic doesn't scare him when they walk down the street, and the bright lights mesmerize him. He loves to stand at their window at all times of the day and watch all of the airplanes as they fly in and out of La Guardia. He adjusts so well to his new environment and its honestly impressive.

Jade on the other hand, doesn't adjust quite as well. She misses her parents, she misses her little brother. She misses how helpful they were when it came to Miles and suddenly realizes that she's a true single mother. Sure, she has Cat around, and thank god for that honestly, but she doesn't have any other help. So now she's raising a son, living on her own in a new city, going to school full time, waitressing part time, and trying to make sure she does each of those things to its full extent. Not to mention that she's only eighteen, and still trying to figure herself out.

"MAMA!"

Miles' shrill, frightened cry fills the apartment and wakes Jade immediately. She bolts upright in bed, and can just barely make out the silhouette of her son sitting upright in his bed. The room is suddenly illuminated by a flash of lightning outside and a crack of thunder immediately follows.

"MAMA!" He screams again, starting to cry this time

"Miles..." Jade yawns, running a hand through her hair "It's just a little bit of thunder, okay? It's not going to...wait. You've never heard thunder before, have you?"

It rarely thunders in Los Angeles. Hell, it rarely _rains_ there. Jade can count the number of thunderstorms she's encountered in her life on one hand, it has definitely been a few years since their last one. No wonder Miles is frightened.

"Baby..." Jade coos, sliding out of her bed and crawling across the floor to sit next to Miles' smaller one "It's just noise, it can't hurt you."

"Boom." Miles pouts, covering his ears "No no."

"I know it's scary." Jade nods "I'll tell you what, you can come sleep with me tonight. Okay?"

She picks the little boy up and he clings to her immediately as she takes him in her arms. She rubs his back gently as she climbs into her own bed again and covers them both up.

"Better?" Jade asks her son

"Mama ting."

"You want me to sing?"

"Please?"

"_Nothing's gonna harm you, not while I'm around_..." Jade sings softly, continuing to rub his back "_Nothing's gonna harm you, no sir, not while I'm around_..."

Within minutes, he's asleep again. She places him gently in the bed next to her, watching him snore softly before falling asleep again herself.

Normally Miles awakes early and he and Jade are out in the living room watching TV or playing when Cat wakes up. But the morning following the storm, the red-head emerges from her room to find the living room empty. Curious, she peeks into Jade's bedroom and sees them both asleep in her bed, Jade's arm tucked around Miles protectively as he cuddles into her chest. Cat smiles to herself as she stands in the doorway for a moment, watching her best friend and godson sleeping peacefully for a moment before she closes the door to the bedroom tightly and goes to make herself a cup of coffee.

* * *

"No!" Miles exclaims, jumping up and down in front of the window "No! No! No!"

"No what, Miles?" Cat asks him, looking up from her textbook

Jade is picking up an extra shift at the restaurant where she waitresses, and had asked Cat if she could watch Miles for a few hours while she did so. Of course Cat had said yes, she adores Miles and was more than happy to help her friend out.

Their first round of college finals are approaching, so Cat is sitting on the couch studying while Miles plays with his toys in the living room. Something outside had caught his attention though, and he was very focused on whatever it is.

"No!" Miles says again

"No?" Cat asks again, looking out the window "Do you see something wr- OH! _Snow!_"

Dozens of tiny snowflakes are swirling around outside their window, partially obstructing the view of the city. Cat is honestly just as excited as her godson is, this is her first snow too.

"C'mon, let's grab our jackets!" She tells him, headed for the door

Cat helps Miles put on his jacket, shoes, mittens, and hat before slipping into her own. She picks him up and places him on her hip, headed straight for the stairs rather than waiting for the elevator to take them downstairs. They only live on the second floor, and who has time to waste on an elevator when it's snowing outside?

"Wow!" Miles gasps as Cat carries him out of the building and into the open air "No!"

"_Snow_." Cat corrects him, switching him to her other hip "With an 's'. Sssssssnow."

"No!"

"Alright, close enough." Cat chuckles "I'll let your mommy fight that battle."

She sets Miles down in the grassy area near the front of their building and lets him toddle around on his own. Walking is still quite a new concept for him, and walking in shoes on uneven ground seems even more foreign. He falls over a few times but always laughs and gets back up, mesmerized by the snow around him.

"Miles, look." Cat sticks her tongue out to catch some of the falling flakes "Try it!"

Miles sticks his own tongue out, and Cat can't help but laugh as he goes practically cross-eyed trying to watch the snowflakes land on it. He grins and pulls his tongue back into his mouth after a few seconds, and continues running around to try and catch as many snowflakes in the palm of his mitten as he can.

Cat pulls her phone out of her back pocket and begins recording him, still smiling at his innocence and complete wonder of the world around him.

"What is that, Miles?" She asks from behind the camera

"No!" Miles giggles, holding out his mittens to display what is mostly just melted snow at this point "See?"

"I do see!" Cat laughs

About five minutes later, Jade feels her phone vibrate in the pocket of her apron. She's working the counter today and only has one customer, so she decides to pull it out and look at the notification. A huge grin spreads across her face when she opens the video of Miles; he's just so cute waddling around in his giant coat and hat, completely in awe of this 'snow' that he had only ever heard about in books or seen on TV. It occurs then to Jade that she's only ever seen snow once in her life before, when she and her mother and Chris went to Aspen a year or two before Tyler was born. She was in elementary school then and barely remembers it, and she feels a ping of sadness in her heart that she doesn't get to share this experience with her son. She saves the video to her camera roll and forwards it to Beck immediately, and then to her parents.

"Excuse me?"

Jade immediately tucks her phone back into her apron and turns her attention back to the customer sitting at the counter. She's probably in her mid-forties, her hair is done up in a neat up-do, and she's wearing a business suit. She's been at the counter for over an hour now, looking at something on her laptop while she eats.

"Sorry." Jade apologizes "How can I help you?"

"More coffee, if you wouldn't mind please." The woman nods towards her cup

"Of course." Jade nods, reaching for the coffee pot behind her

"So what's his name?" The woman asks

"I'm sorry?"

"I saw you smiling at your phone just now." The woman smirks as Jade refills her coffee cup "People only ever smile like that when they're talking to someone they love."

"Oh." Jade suddenly feels herself blushing "My roommate just sent me a video of my son. He's...well _we're_ from California, he's never seen snow before today."

"How precious." The woman smiles "How old?"

"Almost one and a half, but not quite." Jade tells her "Miles. His name is Miles."

She doesn't know why she told this stranger her son's name when it wasn't prompted, but she never passes up on an opportunity to brag about him when she has the chance.

"My youngest's name is Miles." The woman smiles at her "It's a wonderful name."

"It is, isn't it?" Jade agrees, as another customer sits down at the counter "Excuse me for a second."

More and more customers start to file in for the dinner rush, and Jade doesn't get the chance to speak to the woman again before she leaves. However, she does leave a twenty dollar bill tucked under her coffee cup and writes 'enjoy the little moments with him' on the receipt.


	14. On Broadway

"I can't believe we made it through our first year of college." Cat grins, laying back on their blanket and adjusting her sunglasses on her face

"I can't believe how big he's gotten..." Jade sighs, watching Miles and Beck run around in the grass

The four of them are at a park near Cat and Jade's building. It's the third week of May, and their finals have just ended. Beck flew out from Los Angles for a few days to visit but when he leaves, Miles is going to be going with him. Per their custody agreement, as long as Jade is living in New York, Miles will spend summers with his father back in California.

"It'll be fine, Jade." Cat assures her friend "Like it'll suck for a day or two, but you'll get into a routine and before you know it he'll be back."

"Two months is a long time."

"Not really." Cat shrugs "I mean, not compared to the other ten that Beck has to go without seeing him regularly."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Mom!" Miles exclaims, running towards Jade and practically jumping into her arms

"Woah!" Jade laughs "Hey bud, you almost knocked me over."

Miles two months away from turning two years old. His eyes have lightened some since he was born, they're now the same crystal blue as his mother's. Actually, he looks a lot like her. The only attributes he seems to have inherited from Beck are his nose and smile, but everything else about him just screams Jade. He has her blue eyes, her sandy brown hair, and quite a bit of her personality as well. He's the sweetest little boy, and Beck and Jade consider themselves incredibly lucky to be his parents.

"Juice?" Miles asks Jade with hopeful eyes

"Try again." She tells him

"I have juice...please?" Miles rephrases his original question

"There ya go." Jade chuckles, reaching into the diaper bag to find his sippy cup "Of course you can have your juice."

"Thank you!"

Miles repositions himself so he's sitting comfortably on Jade's lap and begins drinking from the cup as Beck makes his way over to the blanket.

"He's got a lot of energy, I'll give him that." Beck laughs, plopping down next to Jade and Miles

"All kids have a lot of energy." Jade tells him, reaching back into the diaper bag and pulling out a bottle of water "Here."

"Thanks." Beck nods, twisting the cap off

"Hey." Cat sits up "What about-"

"Here." Jade pulls another water bottle out of the bag "There's one for everybody."

"Thanks, Mom." Cat smirks

"Yeah, yeah."

"How's the auditioning, Beck?" Cat asks him as she takes a sip from her own water bottle

"Not horrible but not great." Beck shrugs "I've done a few commercials, but nothing too major yet."

"Aw, I'm sorry."

"S'alright." Beck shrugs "It got me out of my parents' house."

With the money he had earned from the few commercial spots he had done, combined with the money he was making now working full time for the landscaping company, Beck was able to move out of the RV in his parents' driveway and into a two bedroom apartment in Central LA. The building itself was a bit out-dated in terms of style, his bathroom is floor to ceiling daffodil-yellow tile, but it's not a bad place to live. Not to mention that he was able to set up a real big boy room for Miles to have to himself when he visits.

"Isn't living on your own totally awesome but totally terrifying?" Jade laughs

"Oh totally." Beck smiles in agreement "It's so much fun paying my own bills and cooking for myself."

"Dada, occer." Miles tugs on Beck's shirt, pointing to the miniature soccer ball that they had brought along with them

"Soccer?" Beck asks him, picking up the ball

"Uh huh!"

"Alright." Beck nods, getting to his feet and reaching out for his son's hand "Let's go."

* * *

Jade tries her best not to cry when she sees Beck and Miles off at the airport, but she can't help but shed a few tears as she watches the two of them disappear through the security checkpoint. This is going to be the longest she's ever been apart from her son, and is finding it hard to imagine what it will be like without him for so long.

Beck, on the other hand, is thrilled to have Miles with him for the summer. Granted, he's never had him on his own for such a long extended period of time, but he knows his parents will be there to help him if he needs. James and Priya haven't seen their grandson since Christmas, and Beck knows that they'll be anxious for some time with him as well.

"Welcome home, Little Man." Beck grins as he and Miles walk through the door to his apartment

He sets Miles down on the floor, and the toddler takes a few hesitant steps forward before looking back at his father.

"Go on." Beck assures him "You can explore."

"Okay!" Miles giggles, running into the apartment

It's a bit bigger than Cat and Jade's, and the layout is different too. Miles has a smile on his face as he takes a lap around the living room and then takes off running down the hallway towards the bedrooms and bathroom.

"Hey buddy, look in here." Beck suggests, pushing open the door to Miles' room "This is your room."

There's a toddler bed pushed up against the far wall with a night stand right beside it. The adjacent wall has a bookshelf and a toy box, both stocked full of books and toys for Miles to enjoy. There's some clothes in his closet, but Beck will fill it with the things Jade has sent along with them as well.

"Mine?" Miles walks hesitantly towards the doorway "And Mommy?"

"No, not for Mommy." Beck explains "Just for Miles."

"But..."

"But what?"

"Mommy..." Miles says quietly, looking as if he could begin crying at any moment

His bottom lip begins to quiver as he looks down at his feet, and Beck knows he needs to act quickly before a full-on tantrum ensues.

"We can call Mommy a little later, okay?" Beck offers, kneeling down to be closer to his son's height "She's probably at work right now. But look at this cool big boy room just for _you_!"

"I want Mommy!" Miles pouts

"I know." Beck nods, suddenly realizing this adjustment isn't going to be quite as easy as he thought "You'll get to talk to Mommy, but right now it's Miles and Daddy time. Okay? Just Daddy and Miles. We're going to have so much fun together! We can play, and we can go to the park, and to the pool, and get ice cream, and go visit Grandma and Grandpa!"

"Okay..." Miles sighs "We play?"

"Sure." Beck smiles, sitting on the ground now and shrugging his backpack off of his shoulders "What do you want to play?"

"Trucks!"

"Alright." Beck nods, crawling towards the toy box "Let's see if we can find some trucks."

Their routine is the same as it was when Beck was in high school, he drops Miles off in the mornings with Priya before he goes to work and then picks him up again in the evening. The bond between father and son grows much stronger, although Miles does still sometimes ask for Jade. Beck isn't offended, he knows there have been times when Miles has been with her and asked for him. It's just how children are, and there's no need to be upset about it.

Robbie and Andre both come back to Los Angeles for the summer, so the two of them will often spend time with Beck and Miles. Miles loves to sit on their laps when they play video games and use a controller of his own, that is never actually connected to the console, just like his daddy and his uncles.

The summer seems to be going relatively smoothly. Miles is happy. Beck is happy to be spending this precious time with him, and while Jade misses Miles terribly, she gets to have some time to herself as well. Ever since Miles was born almost two years prior, she's been his primary caretaker, she hasn't had a whole lot of time to well...be eighteen.

She and Cat both work over the summer, but during their spare time in the evenings they do all kinds of things. They go out with friends from school who are also staying in the city for the summer, they binge watch entire TV shows in a week, they stay up too late doing pointless things. Jade remembers that she's more than just someone's mom, not that she'd ever imagine being anything but.

"There's open casting calls this weekend for Chicago." Cat tells her one morning while they carry their laundry baskets to the basement of their building "There's a few open spots in the company. You should audition."

"Why don't you audition?" Jade asks

"Acting isn't really my thing much anymore." Cat shrugs "I think I want to focus more on music."

"It's _musical_ theater." Jade laughs

"Yeah, but it's not the same." Cat tells her "I want to write my own songs and put out albums and tour the world, not do the exact same show every night in the same theater. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a slut for a good broadway show. But I'm more of a fan these days than a participant."

"Alright fair enough." Jade shrugs, opening to the door to the laundry room "But why should I bother? It's been over a year since I've been in a real production."

"Because you're crazy fucking talented." Cat reminds her "And the show is right up your alley. Who knows? They could even make you an understudy!"

"That I really doubt..." Jade chuckles "But it would be amazing to be in a real Broadway musical...even just as part of a company. It's been a while since I've danced though."

"Let's do a zumba class at the gym this week then!" Cat suggests "Get you warmed up again."

"What good will that do?"

"Dancing is dancing." Cat shrugs "You go get back into the swing of things and then you're ready to learn next weekend at auditions."

"I could quit the diner..." Jade smiles at the thought of no longer having to waitress "I mean, being in the company doesn't pay well, but it pays more than I'm making now."

"Please do it!" Cat begs "Even if you don't make it, it's still a good experience. But if you do make it..."

"Don't get me all excited if we don't know what's going to happen yet." Jade stops her "But...help me pick an audition song as soon as we get back upstairs."

* * *

For her audition, Jade sings 'City Lights' from the musical 'The Act'. It's lesser known by most, but written by the same composers that wrote Chicago, so Jade feels that it showcases her ability to sing that sort of music. She feels like the casting director's eyes are burning a hole right through her during the dance auditions, even though there's five other girls in her group. There are four spots open, two male and two female, and everyone leaves the audition with the promise that the casting directors will be in touch.

Jade slings her bag over her shoulder and pulls out her phone, checking her missed messages as she walks out the door. There's a picture from Beck, of Miles smiling widely as he plays with a bubbler at the community pool. She can't help but smile too, knowing that her son is having fun and being taken care of even though she misses him terribly. She doesn't even notice the man walking towards her, also on his phone and also not paying attention to where he's going. They run right into each other, and both of them drop their phones.

"Shit! I'm sorry." Jade apologizes as she bends down to pick up both phones

After being in the city for close to a year now, she knows how important it is to pay attention to where you're walking. You could pay a nasty price if you don't.

"No worries." The man assures her as Jade hands his phone back to him "Hey, you're Jade. Right?"

"Yeah?"

"You nailed your audition." The man tells her "Seriously, great job."

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Jade asks

His face is familiar, but she can't quite place him. Does he go to NYU? Maybe they've had a class together at some point?

"Oh, duh. Sorry. I'm Brandon Andrews." He extends his hand to shake Jade's "I was playing the piano accompaniment for all of the voice auditions. I play in the orchestra for the production. You did City Lights, didn't you? Great choice."

"Thanks." Jade smiles "You really think I did okay? Or are you just saying that to all of the pretty girls here."

"I would tell you if you sucked." Brandon admits "There were definitely a few people who should have stayed home. You were not one of them though."

"Good to know." Jade smirks "I uh, need to get going. I'm meeting my roommate."

"No worries." Brandon assures her as she starts to walk away "Hey Jade?"

"Hm?"

"Would you maybe like to grab a drink sometime?"

"Uh..." Jade chuckles nervously "I'm eighteen. Almost nineteen! But still underage..."

"S'alright." Brandon assures her "I'm only newly twenty-one myself. Maybe dinner then?"

"Sure." Jade says, much to her own surprise "Dinner would be nice."

* * *

Jade and Brandon do in fact get dinner together, and it actually turns into a celebration of her landing one of the female spots in the company. She feels the need to ask him if he has anything to do with the selection process, and he assures her that it doesn't. His opinion matters about as much as those of the janitors and stage hands do. She starts rehearsals in mid-June and will make her debut in late August, around the same time that classes start back up. It's going to be hard for her to juggle, especially with Miles being back at that point. But her mother, Cat, and Brandon all assure her that she'll be able to handle it all.

She and Brandon spend a lot of time together in rehearsals, but quite a lot of time together outside of them as well. Jade hasn't crushed this hard on someone probably since she met Beck. Brandon is handsome, and funny, and genuinely listens to her when she's talking. It's exciting, being with someone again. It's been basically two years since Jade has been interested in anyone. He has deep blue eyes and dark hair, and adorable dimples when he laughs or smiles. Their one dinner turns into seven, and those dinners turn into walks through Central Park while they hold hands and eat ice cream and kiss under lampposts...and other dates around the city, and those dates eventually turn into her bringing him home. She doesn't think she's ready to sleep with him, she's only ever been with one other person and even then they had been together for a few months, but she wants him to feel welcome at her apartment. She makes sure Cat is home and present if she needs to stop anything from going too far.

"So, uh, this is my room." Jade says as she switches on the light and leads him in "Kinda small, but it works."

"It's nice." He tells her "I like it."

"Thanks." She blushes, hanging up her purse "Are you hungry? We could-"

She looks up and sees Brandon looking at Miles' toddler bed in the corner of her room.

"I take it that's not a dog bed?" He raises an eyebrow at her

"No, uh...my son sleeps there." She explains "Miles. He's almost two. He's visiting his dad back in California right now."

"Is that the ex?"

"That's the ex." She nods

Brandon knows about Beck, how the two of them had been together for three years before everything fell apart practically overnight. She knew about his ex-girlfriends too, and there were only two. They hadn't talked about Miles yet though, Jade was waiting for the right time. She didn't want to scare him.

"How often does he bounce back and forth?"

"Just for the summers." Jade says "Normally he's with me full time, but being on seperate coasts...I have to make sure he sees his dad sometimes too."

"Alright." Brandon shrugs, flopping down on Jade's bed "Well, I can't wait to meet him."

"He doesn't scare you?"

"Course not." He practically laughs "I mean, kids are a big responsibility, yeah. But c'mon, they're not that scary. And if you're raising him? I bet he's a great kid."

"You're really okay with it?"

"I really am." He assures her "Now come over here and cuddle with me."

A few weeks later, Cat and Jade fly home for Miles' birthday. The little boy is thrilled to see them both, but Jade especially. He doesn't leave her side for about an hour after her arrival at his birthday party at Beck's parents' house, and is only torn away when he opens his presents and discovers all of the new toys he has to play with. With Miles under the supervision of his grandparents, Beck and Jade have the opportunity to slip into the next room to talk.

"When are you planning on taking him back?" Beck asks her, looking a bit sad

"I'm off until the first of August." Jade tells him "I got us tickets to fly home on the thirty-first."

"So we still have a few days then, good." Beck smiles "Can he still stay with me? I want to take advantage of the last few days."

"Of course." Jade nods "Cat and I want to spend some time with Tori, and I think our whole group should hang out at some point too. Plus, I want to spend some time with my parents and with Tyler."

"Right, yeah sure." Beck agrees "Your parents and your step-parents have seen him a bunch this summer, by the way. So has Tyler. I made sure of it."

"I heard." Jade smiles "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Uh, so there's something else I want to talk to you about." Jade tells him

"Alright?" Beck slips his hands into his pockets with a shrug "What's up?"

"I met someone."

"That's awesome." Beck says "Congratulations."

"Thank you." Jade nods "His name is Brandon, he plays piano for the orchestra-"

"Congratulations on booking that part too, by the way." Beck interrupts her "That's huge."

"Thank you." Jade says again "But as I was saying. His name is Brandon Andrews, he plays piano for the orchestra. He's twenty-one, and he and I have been seeing each other since early June."

"Does Cat like him?"

"If Cat didn't have Robbie, I'm pretty sure she'd try to take him." Jade laughs

"Okay good."

"I want to introduce him too Miles."

"Oh."

"I know. Neither one of us has ever really been serious enough with someone to want to introduce them to him." Jade reminds him "But...I really like him, and I'm serious about him. He seems serious about me, and I mean...they're both going to be around me quite a bit...so I'd like them to meet."

"Right, of course you'd want that. Of course." Beck nods "I mean...I guess if you're really serious about him...and if he has Cat's stamp of approval...then you have my blessing to introduce them to one another."

"Thank you, Beck." Jade goes to hug him "That means a lot."

"I know." Beck hugs her back "I just want...well, you deserve to be happy."

"That means a lot too."

"So..."

"You have my permission to grill Cat for information on him." Jade rolls her eyes with a smile "Go ahead."

"Thanks." Beck winks "If you need me, I'll be with Cat. Oh and uh, hey Jade?"

"Hm?"

"Happy Birthday to you as well."


	15. Introductions

Jade doesn't introduce Miles and Brandon to one another right away when they return to New York. She wants to give Miles time to adjust to being home again, not to mention that he's working almost every day and she's in rehearsals as well. They've been home for about a week when Jade finally invites Brandon over to the apartment again.

"Hey." He greets her with a kiss as soon as she opens the door "I missed you."

"I missed you too." She smiles

It feels good to be adored this way by someone again.

"Is he around?" Brandon asks, stepping into the apartment

"Yeah he's just...whatcha got there?" Jade raises an eyebrow at him "Oh, you did _not_ bring him a present."

"So what if I did?" Brandon shrugs

"You're not obligated to though..." Jade says quietly

"But I wanted to." He assures her, kissing her quickly on the lips again "Now where is he?"

"Miles?" Jade calls out into the apartment "Can you come here for a second please?"

Miles toddles out of Cat's bedroom, one of her shoes in hand and a mischievous look plastered across his face.

"What are you doing with that shoe?" Jade chuckles "It's not yours!"

"I play." Miles tells her

"He's reorganizing my closet for me..." Cat sighs, appearing out of her room "Hi Brandon."

"Hello, Cat." Brandon smiles with a nod "How's it goin?"

"It's goin'." Cat laughs, taking the shoe from Miles "No more of this tonight, Buddy. I actually need to clean."

"Aw." Miles pouts

"Hey, Little Man?" Jade kneels down on the ground "Come over here, please. There's someone I want you to meet."

"Hi Miles." Brandon smiles, kneeling down next to Jade

"Hi..." Miles says shyly, standing as close to his mother as he possibly can

"Miles, this is my boy-" She hesitates and then rewords her information "This is my friend Brandon. He's going to play with us tonight, is that okay?"

"S'okay." Miles nods "But you play too."

"I will."

"Someone told me you like trucks." Brandon says, pulling a small Tonka truck out from behind his back "I really like 'em too, so I thought that maybe we could play with this one together? Does that sound fun?"

"Fun!" Miles grins, eyeing the new truck "Come on!"

The three of them play with the new truck, and all of Miles' others, for about another hour and a half before the little boy begins to get tired. Jade takes him into their bedroom and changes him into an overnight diaper and a clean pair of pajamas, then sends him out to say goodnight to Cat...and to Brandon as well.

"Goodnight, Miles." Brandon offers him a high-five "Thanks so much for playing with me."

"Welcome." Miles yawns

"Now what do you say?" Jade asks him

"Goodnight?"

"And?"

"Thank you?"

"For what?"

"For truck!" Miles cheers "Goodnight and thank you for truck!"

"You're welcome." Brandon laughs "Sweet dreams, little dude."

He moves from the floor of the living room to the couch, and waits patiently for Jade to return after putting Miles to bed. She reemerges from the bedroom a few minutes later, shutting the door tightly behind her.

"Sorry." She apologizes "Sometimes he likes me to sing to him before I leave."

"Who can blame him?" Brandon smirks "You're a phenomenal singer."

"Thanks." She laughs, sitting down on the couch next to him

"And a phenomenal dancer." Brandon adds "It's not fair that once you move out of rehearsals and into the actual shows I'm only going to be able to _hear_ you do Cell Block Tango rather than getting to watch as well."

"I think you'll survive." She says, kissing him "Besides, you can have me all to yourself afterwords."

"Is that a promise?" He smiles, kissing her back

"Could be."

"Excuse me!" Cat exclaims from her bedroom, to which the door is still open "I am _still_ here!"

"Sorry, Cat." Jade apologizes, snuggling into Brandon as he puts an arm around her "For what it's worth, I think Miles seemed to really like you. Doesn't hurt that you tried to buy his love with that truck, which again, was not necessary."

"It was a ten dollar truck." Brandon laughs "It's not like I was going to have to starve for a week in order to afford it."

"Still."

"Why'd you start to say 'boyfriend' and then hesitate and change your mind?" Brandon asks her

"Because he's only two and he wouldn't understand what 'boyfriend' means." Jade explains "I've told everyone else you're my boyfriend. My parents, my brother, Miles' dad...you're my boyfriend. Don't worry."

"Alright." Brandon smiles, pressing a kiss to her temples "Good, because you're my girlfriend. And it would be hella awkward if I wasn't your boyfriend."

* * *

"Jade West!"

Her director's voice echoes through the empty theater and makes almost everyone on stage jump. Jade rarely gets singled out during rehearsals, so him saying her name definitely catches her attention.

"Right here." She raises her hand and takes a step forward "Uh..."

"There's a phone call for you at the box office, apparently." The director sighs "They claim it's urgent and can't wait. Rush right back."

"Of course." Jade nods

She rushes off the stage and down the center isle into the lobby and heads for the box office. They had been right in the middle of rehearsing 'All I Care About', which Jade and the other female members of the ensemble play a crucial part in. She doesn't know who would think to call her at the box office, Brandon was in rehearsal with her, she left her cell phone number with Miles' daycare, and Cat knows better.

"Excuse me?" Jade knocks on the door "My name is Jade. Someone said that-"

"Oh yes of course." The woman inside picks up one of the phones and hands it to her immediately "It's very urgent, you'll want to take it."

"Thank you." Jade thanks her as she takes the phone "Hi, this is Jade."

"Jade!" She hears Cat's voice on the other end "Oh thank god. You weren't answering your cell and I didn't know what else to-"

"Cat!" Jade hisses "I'm in rehearsal! My phone is off. They're going to be pissed as hell when-"

"It's Miles." Cat cuts her off "The daycare couldn't get ahold of you because your phone is off, obviously. So they called me. They think he might be having an allergic reaction to something."

"Where are you?" Jade asks immediately

"I'm on my way to the ER." Cat tells her "They said he was having a hard time breathing so it was probably anaphylactic. I can handle it if you need I just wanted to let you-"

"No, I'm on my way." Jade assures her "Let me just get things taken care of here."

She hangs up the phone, thanks the woman in the box office, and then legitimately runs back to rehearsal. She explains this situation to her director, who isn't happy but understands, and rushes backstage to grab her bag. Brandon offers to go to the hospital with her, but she urges him to stay at rehearsal. The director doesn't need to be mad at both of them today, and she'll have Cat there for moral support.

"I'll come as soon as rehearsal is over." He assures her, kissing her quickly before she calls "Keep me updated."

"Alright, I will." She promises

She changes out of her rehearsal heels and into normal street shoes and then is out the door. The hospital is blocks away and she needs to get there quickly, so she hails a cab even though she'd much rather take a bus. As she climbs in and gives the driver the address, she pulls out her phone because she knows there's one more person she needs to call.

"Please don't be at work..." She whispers as it rings "Please don't be at work..."

"Hello?"

"Beck?" Jade says just a little too desperately "It's Jade."

"I know, I have caller I.D." Beck laughs "Is everything okay? You sound upset."

"It..it's Miles." She says "He had some kind of allergic reaction at daycare. I don't even know to what, but they had to take him to the hospital. I just left rehearsal and I'm on my way but I just thought that you should-"

"I'm on my way too." Beck tells her "I'll hop a flight and be there by tonight."

"Beck, no." Jade shakes her head "You don't have to do th-"

"He's my son." Beck says flatly "He needs me and I'll be there for him. Keep me updated, okay?"

"Okay..." Jade says quietly

"He'll be okay, Jade."

"I hope so." She sighs "Travel safe."

Within minutes Jade is walking through the hospital doors and making her way to the pediatric emergency room. She spots Cat's bright red hair and immediately starts running towards her friend.

"Cat!"

"Jade!"

The two girls embrace one another and then Cat leads Jade down one of the hallways towards a brightly colored examination room. Miles is laying in the bed, only half conscious, with an IV sticking out of his arm and oxygen tubes in his nose. It's only then that Jade realizes just how small her son still is, and how helpless it's possible for a parent to feel.

"They won't tell me anything because, well because I'm not you." Cat tells her "He seems alright though. For the time being at least."

"Hey bud..." Jade says softly, kneeling down next to the bed

"Mama..." Miles groans

Jade feels as if her heart has been smashed with a hammer and shattered into a million pieces. Her son is miserable, upset, and hurting...and there's nothing she can do to help him.

"I'm here, baby..." She rubs his arm gently "I'm here."

"Are you Miles' mom?" A doctor asks

"That's me." Jade nods, standing up and extending a hand to shake with the doctor "Jade West."

"He had an anaphylactic reaction." The doctor explains "We're running some tests to figure out what to exactly, but based on what the daycare provider told us...right now we're thinking it was peanut butter."

"I don't understand." Jade shakes her head "He eats peanut butter sandwiches all the time, he loves peanut butter!"

"Allergies don't always appear right away." The doctor explains "And peanut allergies are some of the most common. We gave him some epinephrine and he seems to be doing okay, but we want to keep him for observations for a few hours just to be safe."

"Of course." Jade nods "Thank you, doctor."

Jade immediately turns her attention back to Miles, sitting down on the edge of his bed and pushing the hair out of his face before pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"You're going to be fine, Little Man." Jade tells him "The doctors gave you medicine that's going to make you feel all better."

"Tummy hurts..." Miles pouts

"Yeah that happens sometimes." Jade sighs "The peanut butter made you sick, the doctor says you can't eat it anymore."

"Aw..."

"I know." Jade nods "It'll be okay though."

"I wanna go home..."

"I want to take you home too..." Jade sighs "But we can't go quite yet. Not until the doctors say it's okay."

"I wanna go home..." Miles says again, beginning to cry

"Shhh..." Jade rubs his arm "I know, I know. Soon okay? Hey, guess who's coming to see you tonight?"

"Brennan?" Miles sniffs

The he still has a hard time blending together all of the sounds in Brandon's name.

"Probably at some point yeah." Jade nods "But Daddy is coming too."

"He is?" Cat asks from behind her, sounding surprised

"Uh uh..." Jade sighs "He's probably getting on a plane right now. He should be here in a few hours."

* * *

"Peanut butter is yucky anyways." Brandon tells Miles "You know what's a thousand times better?"

"What?"

"Sun butter."

"Huh?"

"It's kinda like peanut butter, but there's no peanuts that'll make you sick." Brandon explains "I'll bring some over next time I come."

"Okay."

Miles is laying under a blanket on the couch in the living room, his favorite stuffed animal tucked under his arm and the TV tuned in to his favorite children's channel. Brandon is sitting on the floor next to him with his back leaning against the couch, and Cat and Jade are at their kitchen table with their laptops open to different pages explaining everything about peanut allergies.

There's a knock at the door and Jade stands up to open it, revealing a very disgruntled Beck on the other side.

"Where is he?" Beck asks, pushing past Jade into the apartment "Is he okay?"

"He's on the couch." Jade says through a plastered-on smile "And we're not fretting over him to avoid scaring him."

"Shit." Beck sighs, shrugging his backpack and coat off "I mean, shoot! Gah, sorry. Miles? Hey buddy..."

"Daddy!" Miles grins, holding his arms up to his father

"Hey..." Beck says as he takes his son in his arms and holds him close "I missed you."

"Daddy, peanuts make me sick."

"I heard." Beck nods sympathetically "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Peanuts, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, and coconuts." Jade sighs, walking towards them "According to his test results."

"Coconuts?" Beck looks surprised "Oh man, Mr. Sikowitz would be so upset to hear that."

Miles snuggles into Beck's chest, and Beck readjusts him so he's using one arm to support him and still has the other one free.

"You uh, must be Brandon..." Beck says, looking down

"Oh, sorry yeah." Brandon apologizes as he stands up "That's me. Brandon Andrews, nice to meet you."

"Beck Oliver." Beck shakes his hand

"You're kid is great." Brandon tells him "And I mean that."

"I know." Beck nods

"Well, I should get going." Brandon says, moving towards the door "Feel better, Miles. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay." Miles nods "Bye Brennan."

"Bye bud." He waves walking towards Jade "Bye babe."

"Bye." She kisses him "I'll text you."

"Sounds good. Goodnight, everybody."

There's a chorus of 'goodnight's as Brandon exits. Beck sets Miles back down on the couch and covers him up with his blanket. Once the little boy is comfortable again, Jade nods towards her bedroom and motions for Beck to follow her. He does, and once they're both inside she flips the lights on and closes the door.

"He's been eating peanut butter almost his whole life, I don't get it." Beck sighs, running a had through his hair

"The doctor said allergies can develop at any stage." Jade shrugs "Better we find out sooner than later, I guess."

"You gotta be more careful with him, Jade. He could have died."

"Excuse me?" Jade scoffs "Why is this my fault? You helped make him, remember?"

"You're basically the one raising him though."

"You gave me permission to do this!" Jade reminds him "Or have you forgotten?"

"I'm sorry." Beck shakes his head "I'm just...it scared me. The thought of losing him...like actually losing him forever...I just couldn't-"

"I know." Jade cuts him off "I felt the same way. It was scary."

She doesn't know why, but she hugs him. She slips her arms around his waist and he wraps his around her shoulders and they hug, sharing a parental moment of stress before it elevates.

"Brandon seems..." Beck hesitates as they break their hug

"Be honest."

"Great. He seems great." Beck finishes "And he and Miles seems to get along pretty well."

"They do, actually." Jade nods "But you're still his number one. He loves his daddy."

"Thank god." Beck admits "I should get back to him."

"You should." Jade agrees "Once he goes to sleep, I'll make up the sofa bed for you."

"Thanks, Jade."

"Of course." She nods "Thanks for flying out here."

"Of course." Beck says "Anything for him."


	16. Paris

It's hard for Jade and Brandon to find real alone time. When they're working, they're working. There's always other people around and there's always something urgent happening, that's just how Broadway is. In the mornings Jade is going to class and taking care of Miles. Weekends are a little less hectic, but only just a little. The show takes one night off a week, and those nights are usually their saving grace.

They find ways to make it work though, the way people do when they really care about each other and want to spend time together.

"You're amazing, have I ever told you that?" Brandon smirks as Jade rolls off of him

"You're not so bad yourself." She smiles, kissing his cheek and pulling the sheets closer around her body

It's a Saturday afternoon in mid March. Miles is newly two and a half, Cat and Jade are halfway through their second semester of their sophomore year at NYU, and Jade and Brandon have been together for roughly nine months now. After their matinee show, the young couple had rushed back to Brandon's apartment. His roommate was at work so they'd have the place to themselves, and Cat had taken Miles to the Manhattan Children's museum for the day so Jade wouldn't have to worry about him until later. There was roughly two and a half hours between the end of the first show and their call time for the second, meaning there was just enough time for them to fool around for a bit, grab some dinner, and get back to the theater.

"It's already 6:15." Jade sighs, looking at the clock on Brandon's bedside table "We should get dressed."

"No, don't." Brandon pouts, reaching for her hand as she sits up

"Babe." Jade laughs, getting out of his bed and collecting her clothes off the floor "We have to go to work."

"Would it really be so bad if there were only five married murderesses in the Cook County Jail tonight?" Brandon asks

"Would it really be so bad if the orchestra didn't have a piano player?" Jade raises an eyebrow at him

"They could manage without me." Brandon assures her "Most of us play multiple instruments. Come back to bed."

"I don't have an understudy." Jade reminds him "And if I don't show up to work, I don't get paid. So unless you'd like to end up like Ezechiel Young from Salt Lake City, I suggest you get up."

"Going to slip into character and try to poison me? Kinky."

"I won't, but the producers might."

"I'm only kidding." Brandon assures her, rolling out of bed and tugging on his underwear and dress slacks "We'd both be fired on the spot if anyone found out we skipped work to have sex."

"We'd be fired on the spot if we skipped work at all without giving them a valid reason." Jade sighs "Do you see my earrings anywhere?"

"Dresser." Brandon nods towards his dresser "Do you see my shirt?"

"Living room, probably." Jade smirks as she grabs her earrings "That's where I ripped it off of you."

Brandon kisses her cheek before exiting the bedroom to look for his shirt. Jade hears a phone start to vibrate somewhere behind her and turns to see which one it is. After finally locating it on the ground next to Brandon's bed, she flips it over to see Beck's contact picture lighting up the screen, and hits the button to answer.

"Hey, what's up?" She greets him

"I booked a movie." Beck says immediately "A real Hollywood movie with a big budget and big names."

"What?" Jade gasps "Beck, that's amazing."

"What happened?" Brandon asks, buttoning his dress shirt and he walks back into the room

"Miles' dad booked a movie." Jade tells him, before turning her attention back to the call "What kind of movie?"

"An action thriller." Beck explains "I'm going to play the lead's best friend. It's actually a pretty significant part."

"That's so great, I'm so happy for you." Jade smiles "Were you calling to tell Miles? Cat is out with him right now but we could FaceTime you to-"

"I was calling to tell you." Beck tells her "But Miles is part of the reason I called."

"Okay?"

"We're going to be filming on location in Paris this summer..." Beck explains

"Ah." Jade nods "So you need to talk about when you're going to see him."

"Right..." Beck sighs "Obviously he can't come with me. We don't have time to get him a passport and I have no idea who would watch him while I'm working. But I still want to see him, and so do my parents. So I was wondering if maybe I could take him during April and May instead of June and July. I'll fly out there and get him, you won't have to take any time off of work or anything, but that way he and I still get our time together and you have a little less to worry about when final exams roll around."

"Sure." Jade agrees "That's fine. We'll make it work."

It's going to make finding child care a little harder because she and Cat will both be working during the summer, but she has a while to figure it out.

"Thank you so much, Jade." Beck thanks her "I really appreciate it."

"Sure Beck, no problem."

* * *

Beck works through the month of April, continuing his regular routine of leaving Miles with Priya during the day, but quits at the beginning of May so he has even more time to spend with his son before he goes off to Paris and his life changes forever. He's amazed at how advanced Miles is now, talking in almost complete sentences and incredibly coordinated. Beck knows that Jade works hard with him, wanting to make sure their son is learning as much as he can so he doesn't fall behind and isn't judged for being the son of two teen parents.

It's quite an odd feeling for Beck when he finally has to pack Miles up to leave for New York again, mostly because he's packing himself up too. He'll fly straight to Paris from New York after he drops his son off, and the next time he returns to this apartment...well his life if hopefully going to be very different.

As soon as he steps off the plane, he immediately regrets not attempting to learn any French before he came. It takes him an hour to find the driver that the production studio sends for him, but thankfully he speaks English.

"First time in France?" The man asks as they depart the airport

"Yeah." Beck nods "First time outside of North America, actually. I was born in Canada, and I have family there, but I've lived in America since I was seven."

"What part of Canada?"

"Toronto."

"Ah." The driver chuckles "If you had said Montreal or somewhere in Quebec, I would have judged you for not knowing any French. But Toronto is mostly English isn't it?"

"Mostly."

"Well, welcome to Paris, kid." The driver tells him "I don't know how often the studio is going to let you get out and do any sightseeing, but you'll be filming on location so hopefully you get to at least see some of the sights."

"Hopefully." Beck admits "I'm really just thankful for the opportunity, if we're being completely honest. I've been waiting for this chance my whole life."

"Well, I hope it all works out for you."

* * *

"Beck Oliver?"

"Huh?" Beck looks up from his script

It's his first official day of work on the movie, which currently has a working title of 'The Runaway', and the cast is getting ready for their first table read.. He's only been in Paris for about twenty-four hours, and the jet lag is kicking his ass. He probably should have flown out a few days sooner, but he wanted to get as much time with Miles as he possibly could.

"Your name is Beck Oliver?" The woman clarifies, extending a hand to shake his

"Oh, right." Beck laughs nervously as they shake hands "I'm playing Dean."

"Mallory Lynn." She introduces herself "I'm playing Lauren."

Lauren is married to Evan, and Dean is Evan's best friend. Beck thinks he has a pretty good understanding of the characters and their relationships to one another, but every once and a while he needs to remind himself.

"Of course, Mallory Lynn!" Beck practically exclaims as she sits down in the chair next to him "Wow, you were in Metamorphosis! That's a great film."

She's only twenty-one and already rather accomplished as an actress. She had started her career on a family sitcom when she was sixteen, and worked her way up to more serious projects from there. Beck had a bit of a crush on her when he was in middle school, but once he met Jade he didn't bother to think about celebrities like that anymore.

"The box office sure seemed to think so." Mallory smirks "What about you? Would I know you from anything, Beck Oliver?"

"I was a waiter in an episode of Pretty Little Liars once." Beck shrugs "But otherwise, nothing major. A lot of commercials and background work. This is my first major project."

"Is this your first real table read then?"

"It is."

"Lucky they sat us next to each other then." Mallory winks at him "I've done this hundreds of times, I'll show you how everything works."

The two of them talk for a few more minutes before the table read begins, and Beck feels that they really seem to hit it off. He always thought that when he got the chance to meet a celebrity face to face and have a real conversation with them, he would feel intimidated. But Mallory isn't intimidating, at least not to him. Of course, he had dated Jade for three years so his definition of 'intimidating' probably differs from those of other people.

Mallory invites him back to her apartment after the table read, and even though Beck has an eight o'clock call time the next morning, he accepts her invitation. He doesn't want to just go back to his hotel room and be by himself for the rest of the night, and he should be making an effort to get to know his new cast mates anyways.

"Would you like a drink?" Mallory offers as soon as they walk in the door "Don't look at me funny, the drinking age over here is eighteen. And even if it wasn't, I wouldn't tell anyone if you wanted something."

"I've only ever had beer." Beck admits "I'm not really sure what I'd like."

"Let me make you a vodka lemonade." Mallory offers "It's a good drink for beginners."

"Alright." Beck shrugs "So...do you own this apartment?"

"I do." Mallory nods "I have one in Paris, one in Sydney, and a house in LA."

"Wow." Beck raises his eyebrows "Do you live in all of them?"

"I rotate based on how I'm feeling in the moment." Mallory admits, handing Beck a glass "It's nice to have options."

"I bet." Beck takes a sip of his drink "Oh wow, that's strong."

"That's the only way to have them." Mallory laughs "Do you want me to add more lemonade?"

"Nah, I'll get used to it."

Mallory pours herself a glass of wine and motions for Beck to follow her into the living room, and he takes a seat on the couch beside her.

"My life is plastered all over the tabloids all of the time..." Mallory sighs "...which means you probably already know a shit ton about me. So tell me about you."

"Like what?"

"Where'd you grow up? Where'd you go to high school? Any brothers or sisters?" Mallory asks "Do you...have a girlfriend?"

"I was born in Toronto, but my family moved to Los Angeles when I was seven. When my parents earned citizenship, so did I. No brothers or sisters, it's just me. I went to Hollywood Arts Hi-"

"That place." Mallory scoffs, taking a sip of her wine

"What about it?" Beck asks her "It's a great school."

"I'm not denying that it is." Mallory assures him "I've just run into some real snobs over the years who think their hot shit because they went there. The name on your high school diploma means nothing, what you do with your talent does."

"Do I...seem like a slob to you?"

"You do not." Mallory smiles "You're one of the good ones."

"Alright, good." Beck nods "I'm glad. I'm really trying to make a good first impression on the industry."

"I think you're doing an okay job so far." Mallory assures him, placing a hand on his shoulder "But you didn't answer my last question."

"Sorry." Beck apologizes "What was it?"

"A girlfriend." Mallory reminds him "Do you have one?"

"Oh." Beck blushes "No, I don't."

"Interesting."

"I do have a son, though." Beck adds "Miles. He's two and a half."

"And where is he?"

"With his mom in New York." Beck explains "She goes to school there."

"So do you see him?"

"I do." Beck nods "We split our ti...you know what? It's complicated."

"That's alright." Mallory says, inching a bit closer to him "We all have our complicated periods."

"Mhm..." Beck nods, leaning into her a little bit

He's not sure why he kisses her, he's only just met her, but he kisses her. He lays down on the couch and she climbs on top of him, and suddenly they're making out. Beck has hooked up with his fair share of girls over the past few years, but never someone he's only known for a few hours. And certainly never a celebrity, or at least a real celebrity. He did have an interesting encounter with a Britney Spears impersonator he co-stared in a commercial with about a year or so prior...

"We should move to the bedroom..." Mallory says suddenly, breaking their kissing "Is that okay?"

"That's more than okay." Beck nods "Lead the way."


	17. Whirlwinds

There's something about love that is just impossible to describe.

Beck thinks he might love Mallory. They're about a month into shooting their movie and they've agreed that they're not seeing other people, only each other. He's only known her for a month, but there's something about her that makes him feel like he's known her for his entire life. She's very different from the other girls that he's chosen to devote time to in the past, but it's a good kind of different. She's always complimenting him, but not only about his appearance. Sure, occasionally she'll tell him 'wow, your hair looks great today' or 'I just love it when you smile'. But it's more often compliments along the lines of 'I love how thoughtful you are' or 'you're incredibly talented' or 'I wish I had a sense of humor like your's'. It's all great, it's all mutual. They adore one another.

Paparazzi have caught them out together in Paris a few times now, and pictures of the two of them together are slowly starting to make their way around the internet. Beck is a nobody, at least for the time being, and the director and producers love how much buzz his mysterious identity is already creating for the movie. It seems like a win-win situation for everyone.

Jade worries about what the media's new obsession with Beck could mean for Miles. It's so easy to find information on the internet these days and all it would take is a quick google search of Beck's name to find his instagram, and the dozens of pictures of Miles that are on it. She knows she can't ask him to go private, because part of his job now is to build a following. She also knows she can't ask him to delete all the evidence of their son, because that just isn't right. Miles is part of who Beck is, he's part of who both of them are, and she can't ask him to pretend like he doesn't exist.

She isn't entirely sure how she feels about Mallory either. All of the tabloids seem to make her out to be some kind of child star turned diva and that doesn't really seem like Beck, but she knows she should trust his judgement. While Beck might be stubborn at times, he does have a solid head on his shoulders, and wouldn't waste time on someone he didn't think was good for him. At least...that's what Jade wants to believe. Brandon continually asks her why she cares so much about her ex-boyfriend's love life, and Jade can sense that there might be some jealously lingering beneath his surface.

"If Miles wasn't in the picture, then I wouldn't care at all." She assures him "But he is. And I have to accept that whoever Beck is with is probably going to be a part of my son's life. I just want to make sure that he's surrounded by good people is all."

It's their night off, and the two of them are sitting on the couch in Cat and Jade's living room, sharing an order of Chinese takeout. Miles has been asleep for about an hour and Cat is at work, so they have the apartment almost entirely to themselves.

"Well, Beck would want that too...don't you think?" Brandon reminds her "I'm sure that he has Miles in the back of his mind."

"I sure hope he does." Jade sighs "I dunno...I always thought about what kind of people I should be bringing home and who I should let be around him...but I guess I never really thought much about how he might one day have another mother figure in his life."

"He's known the girl for like a month, Jade." Her boyfriend reminds her "Who knows what will happen when they finish shooting the movie? Hell, who knows what will happen _tomorrow_. Don't worry about that yet."

"I try not to." Jade admits "Sometimes I just can't help it."

"Hey." Brandon moves closer to her and cups her face in his hands "How old were you when your dad met your step-mom?"

"Like six."

"Okay, so she's been a part of your life for a while now?" Brandon clarifies, dropping his hands but using one to rub her shoulder

"Yeah."

"And you two have a good relationship?"

"I'd like to think so." Jade nods "I mean, she let me work for her when I was in high school...and she's done a whole lot of other shit for me too."

"But you still love your mom?"

"Of course." Jade scoffs "She's my mom."

"And no matter who your ex decides to introduce to Miles, he will still love you always." Brandon reminds her "Because you're his mom."

"Thank you for calming me down when I get insane." Jade smiles

"You're not insane." Brandon assures her, pecking her quickly on the lips "You're a worried parent. And that's fine."

"I'm glad you think so."

"Were you worried about Miles when you met me?" Brandon asks her "Like...whether or not I was a good enough person to be in his life?"

"No." Jade shakes her head, picking at the food in her takeout box with her fork "I was worried about telling you he existed, just because people can seem like they'll be okay with it and then act completely different than you expect them to, but I was never worried about whether or not you were good enough to be in his life."

"I appreciate that." Brandon grins "Do you think I'm..."

"Do I think you're what?" She raises an eyebrow at him

"I dunno...step-dad material?"

"Do you think I would have let you into his life if you weren't?" Jade smirks

"Would you have?"

"No." She answers honestly "You're great with him and one day...yeah, I can see you being his step-dad. And then maybe being dad to someone else...or a few someones."

"Kids of our own?" Brandon chuckles "I like where this conversation is going."

"Well, not right now obviously." Jade rolls her eyes "I'd like to finish school first, and I'd like to star in a few projects of my own, and be married this time...but one day, I do want more."

"How many more?"

She never really saw herself as having more than one child, but after having Miles...she understands why most people have more than one. She'd have six more if they were all just like Miles, but there's no way that's realistic. They won't all be just like him, and there's no way her body can handle another six pregnancies.

"I'm not sure." She shrugs "At least one, maybe two or three. It would depend on the timing, I guess. Why? How many would you want?"

"Two." Brandon answers quickly "A boy named Leo and a girl named Cora. Leo would come first, and then Cora a few years later...that way her older brothers could look out for her as she grows up."

"You've certainly thought this through." Jade chuckles "We might have to work on those names though."

"You don't like my baby names?" Brandon pretends to be offended

"No, I don't." Jade smirks, climbing into his lap and kissing him "But don't take it too personally."

* * *

"As soon as the movie wraps, let's go to your place in Sydney." Beck suggests "No cast mates, no directors, no paparazzi. Just us."

"I hate to break it to you, but there's going to be paparazzi no matter where we go." Mallory laughs "Paparazzi are part of the life of an actor."

"The paparazzi can't get pictures of us if we never leave the apartment..." Beck reminds her, slipping his arms around her waist from behind and resting his chin on her shoulder "We could just...stay in bed all day."

"Now, _that_ I like the sound of." Mallory admits, kissing Beck's cheek before breaking away from him "Unfortunately I have another project lined up after this one though. All work and no play for me, at least for a while."

"Where's the project?"

"Good ole Hollywood." Mallory rolls her eyes "I'll just go to my place in Los Angeles."

"That's great!" Beck admits "That's home for me, we'll still be able to see each other."

"We'd see each other regardless." Mallory tells him "Wherever I go, you're always going to be welcome with me. You're my boyfriend, so you're a priority. Just like I hope I would be a priority for you as well."

"Of course you are." Beck assures her "I just can't say I have any cool projects to take you along with me on."

"Just wait for this movie to be released." Mallory smirks, fixing her makeup in the mirror "You will have offers pouring in from everywhere. Beck Oliver is going to be a household name."

"You think so?"

"I know so." Mallory nods, walking towards him "Every guy is going to want to _be_ you, every girl is going to want to _have_ you...but too bad for them you already have _me_."

"Yes I do." Beck smiles as he kisses her

The two of them kiss briefly before falling backwards onto Mallory's bed. They have to be on set in an hour, but that doesn't mean they can't have a little fun first. Beck feels bad that the studio is paying for a hotel room for him when he's stayed at Mallory's every night he's been in Paris except for the first. It's so much nicer to be staying in a place that actually feels like home, not just a stuffy hotel room with limited cable and room service that is usually cold by the time it reaches the room anyways. Living with a girlfriend isn't half bad either, Beck has never had so much sex before. They've been doing it _at least_ once a day, aside from the week Mallory was on her period...but even then they found other ways to stay busy. Beck doesn't see how his life could get any better.

"You should move in." Mallory tells him, panting heavily "When we go back to LA, you should move in with me. It could be like this all the time."

"I like the sound of that." Beck smirks, kissing her neck "Let's do it."


	18. Let's Get Away

"Great job tonight." One of the other company members says to Jade as she passes her

"Thanks." Jade smiles, looking up from her phone "You too."

She's changed into her street clothes by now, but is still done up in her show hair and makeup. She'll take it off when she gets home, before she jumps into the shower. She really wants to shower more than anything, it was a two show day and she's exhausted, but she and Brandon always leave together. He lives close to the theater, but always walks her to her train after every show and makes sure that she gets aboard safely. It's partially because she's afraid of being alone in the city at night, but also because it gives them a few extra minutes together before they say goodnight.

Usually, Brandon is the one waiting around for her. All he does after the show is make sure the orchestra pit is in order, then waits patiently for her to finish changing out of her costume. But tonight she was ready to leave first and is waiting for him by the stage door, just like he always does for her.

"Sorry I'm late." Brandon apologizes with a kiss as he appears in front of her "You sounded great tonight."

"Thanks." She smiles "Your piano accompaniment was perfect, as usual."

"Thank you." He laughs, grabbing her hand and lacing their fingers together before leading her towards the door

"Where were you?" Jade asks him as they step out into the night air "I'm almost never ready to go before you."

"I was talking to Jim about some stuff." Brandon tells her, referencing the orchestra conductor "Contract renewals are coming up."

"Right." Jade nods "Contract renewals."

Everyone in the show signs contracts to play their parts, play their instruments, or do their jobs, for a set amount of time. Jade herself had signed a contract to be part of the company and sing the part of one of the six married murderesses for a year. The reason she had been given the opportunity to audition in the first place was because a few members of the previous company had chosen not to renew their contracts and there were spots that needed to be filled and parts that needed to be learned before their departure. Jade's contract is going to be up in about five weeks or so, and she has a decision to make about whether or not she wants to stay with the production.

"Did you know that they're going to take the show on tour?" Brandon asks her as they walk towards the subway

"What?" Jade raises an eyebrow at him "Are we closing?"

If the show is closing, her choice might have already been made for her.

"No no." Brandon assures her "We're one of the longest running shows on Broadway, we're not closing anytime soon. There's going to be a production in New York as well as a touring production."

"Oh." Jade nods "Well that's cool, I guess. Is anyone going to leave our show to go with them?"

"That's actually why I brought it up..." Brandon smirks "I think _we_ should."

"I'm sorry?" Jade stops walking

"Jim told me that if I want the touring piano spot, then it's mine." He tells her "If you tell them you want to go too, there's for sure a spot in the company for you...and they'll probably even let you audition for Velma."

"Brandon, I-"

"C'mon, you're going to miss your train." He tells her, grabbing her hand again and pulling her towards the station "You don't need to decide right now. Just sleep on it and we can talk tomorrow over breakfast, okay?"

"Al-alright." Jade says nervously, watching as her train approaches "I'll see you in the morning."

"In the morning." Brandon nods, leaning in to kiss her "Goodnight, I love you."

"I love you too..."

* * *

They don't talk about it the next morning though. Miles isn't feeling well, so Brandon ends up coming over for breakfast rather than taking Jade out so that she can spend a little extra time with her son.

"Don't go to work." Miles pouts, climbing into Jade's lap as she sits down to put her shoes on "Stay here. My tummy hurts."

"I know it does, baby..." Jade sighs, kissing his forehead "But I gotta go to work, Auntie Cat is going to stay here with you."

"No, you stay."

"Miles..."

"C'mon, Miles." Cat picks the little boy up off of his mother's lap "We can FaceTime your dad and talk to him."

"No, Mommy!"

"I'm sorry, Miles." Jade tells the now crying little boy "I'll see you tonight."

She never likes leaving Miles when he's upset, and usually he doesn't scream and cry like that often. Brandon knows it isn't the right time to bring up the touring production, so he just takes her hand in his and presses a kiss to it as they walk to the subway. He assures her that Miles will be fine, and she nods in agreement because she knows he's right.

They have a brief rehearsal before they start getting ready for the show, and in between Jade calls Cat for an update on Miles. Cat tells her that he has a slight fever, and is complaining that his stomach is hurting him still, but was quite content to lay on the couch and talk to Beck via FaceTime call after she left. He pouted a bit when his father told him he needed to go to set, but didn't cry when the call ended and has been watching cartoons ever since then. Jade is relieved to know that even though her son isn't feeling well, he isn't upset to the point of tears anymore. She's even more relieved after the first show when she calls to check in again and Cat tells her that she was able to get him to go down for a nap. Sleep is definitely going to help him fight off whatever isn't making him feel well.

Jade doesn't want to go back to her own apartment if Miles is napping, he needs the sleep and she's afraid she'll wake him. Cat assures her that everything is still under control, so Jade and Brandon go back to his place. They do the same thing they always do: check for his roommate, make out on the couch for a while once they know the coast is clear, then move to the bedroom.

Brandon notices that Jade isn't quite herself, she seems preoccupied the entire time. They're laying in bed afterwards, one of his arms wrapped around her and the other tracing small circles on her collar bone, when he decides to say something to her.

"Are you worried about Miles?" Brandon asks her

"No..." Jade shakes her head "Kids get sick all the time, especially when they're in daycare like he is. It's probably just a bug, he'll be fine."

"What's going on with you then?" Brandon shifts so that Jade can sit up "You seem...far away."

"I've just been thinking a lot about what you told me last night." Jade admits, climbing out of bed and slowly starting to get dressed as she collects her clothing items off of the floor "About what it could mean."

"I think it would mean a lot of good things." Brandon tells her as he starts to get dressed as well "I mean, wouldn't it be so great to see the rest of the country? To get away from the city for a little while? And get to do it together?"

"I like the city." Jade tells him

"Well so do I, but a break wouldn't hurt."

"You've been here longer than I have, I'm not ready to leave it quite yet." Jade sighs "Besides, I can't relocate Miles every few weeks or every few months like that. Especially if we don't know exactly how long we're going to be in each spot or how long the whole tour is going to be anyways."

"Maybe Miles should go spend some time with his dad then..." Brandon suggests "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Beck has a job too." Jade reminds him "He could get a call about a part at any minute and have to be in a different city or a different country in a matter of days. That's not healthy for Miles either."

"So maybe Beck doesn't work for a while then!" Brandon raises his voice slightly "Why should you have to be the one making all of the sacrifices all of the time? You deserve a life too!"

"Beck is making the ultimate sacrifice!" Jade exclaims "He's letting me take his son to the other side of the country for four years! He sees him maybe eight or nine weeks out of the year! That's a huge sacrifice and he did that so I could go to school! Which I still have to think about as well. I'm still in school, remember?"

"School is always going to be there! Take a gap year or two, people do it all the time!"

"Maybe I don't want to!" Jade tells him "And who gave you permission to tell me what to do with my life or how to raise my son?"

"I just want you to be happy, Jade..." Brandon says, a calmer demeanor falling over him "I know how much you love the show and-"

"Maybe I'm not happy anymore, did you ever think about that?"

"Are you not?"

"No." Jade shakes her head "Don't get me wrong, I _love_ being on Broadway. It's been an...amazing experience. But trying to be on Broadway, and go to school, and raise an almost three year-old is _hard_. It's a lot to have on my plate all at once. So I think...I think that when we get back to the theater tonight, I'm going to tell casting that I'm not renewing my contract."

"What?"

"It's too much for me right now, Brandon." She admits with a shaky voice "And as much as I love being on stage every night, it's not worth the hassle just to be in the company. I love Broadway, but I also love being at NYU. And Miles is more important than either of those things."

"Jade..."

"I managed it for a year." She says "A whole _year_."

"I'm very proud of you for doing that." Brandon smiles a bit "And I'm proud of you for being able to recognize that it's getting to be too much and that you should make a change. But-"

"But you want to do the national tour." Jade finishes for him "And you should, because it's a great opportunity."

"It's not definite though." Brandon reminds her "How long we're in each city depends on how popular we are. Runs can be extended, I have no idea how long I'll be gone."

"You'll get time off now and then, won't you?" She asks "You can come back to visit, I can fly to wherever you are when Miles is with Beck..."

"By the time the whole thing is over, you probably will have graduated..." Brandon sighs

"Oh..." Jade nods "So you're saying that when you get back to New York, I'll probably already be back in California."

"Assuming that's still your plan after you graduate."

"It is." Jade confirms "I...I love New York, it's a great place to live for a little while, but it isn't home. Los Angeles is home, that's where my family is, that's probably where I'm going to be able to find the most work as an actress...god there's no _fucking_ snow or ice..."

"It's okay, Jade. I understand." Brandon assures her "I don't really know what that means for us though."

"I think we both know what it means..." Jade says quietly "It's just a question of when..."

"I won't leave until the start of September." Brandon tells her "We could always-"

"Go on pretending that our relationship doesn't have an expiration date?" Jade raises an eyebrow at him "No, Brandon. That's not healthy and you know it."

"So what?" He sighs "We just break up now then?"

"I guess so..."

"What do you mean you guess so?" Brandon groans "Do you want to break up or not, Jade?"

"Of course I don't _want_ to!" She exclaims "I feel like we don't really have an option though. I don't want to stay in New York forever, and you don't want to go to LA. You're going to be traveling until after I graduate and by the time you get back, I'll be gone. We can't do long distance for the rest of our lives, so let's just break it off before one of us says something we'll regret!"

"Fine." He shakes his head "We're breaking up."

"Fine." She grabs her phone off of his night stand "I'll see you at the theater."

"You don't have to go..."

"But I should." She tells him "I'll see you later, Brandon. Have a good show."

"Yeah..." He sighs as she walks out of his bedroom "You too."


	19. Adjustments

Jade had forgotten how much breakups could hurt.

When she and Beck broke up she had stayed in bed and cried for three days, only leaving her room when she had to go to school. She wants to do that now, she wants to just crawl into a hole and hide there forever. She thought she and Brandon had a real future together, and in a matter of just thirty-six hours that future had disappeared completely.

She didn't see him before the show the night that they broke up, and she didn't wait around for him afterwards either. A few other girls from the company take the same train home as her, so she walked to the station with them without even bothering to look around for Brandon. She needed a clean break from him, especially if he's going to be leaving soon. That night when she got home, Cat had been sitting on the couch waiting for her, ready to tell her that Miles' fever had broke and he was starting to feel much better. Jade collapsed into a heap of tears next to her best friend, and had slept in Cat's bed with her that night so that her crying didn't wake Miles.

Thankfully, it takes a few days for Miles to ask about Brandon and why he hadn't been around. By then Jade was all cried out and didn't have the energy to be consistently upset about it.

"He had to go away for a little while..." Jade tells her son as she cuts up an apple for him "And we're probably not going to be seeing him anymore. But he wanted me to tell you that he loves you a whole lot and that he'll miss you."

The last part was made up, but Jade knows Brandon would have asked her to say something along those lines.

"Is he dead?" Miles asks

"No." Jade answers quickly "He just got a new job is all. I'm getting a new job too in a month or so."

"Are you going away too?"

"Nope." She assures her son with a smile, handing his apple slices to him "I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

* * *

The weekend of Jade's last performance is crazy. It seems as if almost all of her friends and family are there to be a part of it. Robbie had been meaning to fly out to visit Cat that month anyways, so he of course is there and brings Andre and Tori along with him. The three of them don't have to be back at their respective universities for another week or so and jump on the opportunity to visit their friends, and to celebrate Jade of course. Andre and Tori take the sleeper sofa in the living room, and Robbie stays in Cat's room with her. Their apartment is full, which is both very exciting and stressful at the same time. Miles loves all the attention that he gets from his aunts and uncles, but wishes that his dad could be there too.

Jade had invited Beck out too, of course. She would have had to borrow an air mattress from one of their neighbors, but they definitely had the room in their apartment to accommodate him. He had declined her invitation though, claiming that he was tired from all the traveling he had done to get back home after wrapping his movie about a week prior. He's also now in the process of moving in with Mallory, which came as a shock to Jade when he told her. They hadn't been together all that long, and barely knew one another outside of their movie set. Jade reminds herself that it's his life to live and not her's, and doesn't make any comments other than his presence will be missed that weekend. He apologizes, and sends flowers to the theater for her.

Her family also comes, her mother and father and both of their spouses. They've all been out so see the show a few times since she started, but never at the same time. They both book rooms in the hotel across the street from the theater so that they can be in close proximity. Tyler stays home, unfortunately. He's coming off of his first week of middle school and his parents worry that all of the travel will wear him out. He's also to the age now where he's old enough understand the show's content, but is still too young to be seeing his sister dancing around the way that she does on stage. He stays at home with Chris's parents, and Jade promises to get a recording of the show so one day he can watch too.

She wants Miles to be there. He's young enough that the content of the show will go right over his head, and she wants her son to see her perform at least once. She wants him to see where she's been constantly disappearing to all year, even if he's not quite old enough to really understand what theater is at this point in his life.

Jade's final day on Broadway happens to be a Saturday, a double show day. So before rehearsal that morning, she and Miles say goodbye to all of her friends at the apartment and take the train into the city together. Kaitlyn meets them in the lobby of the hotel where she, Chris, John, and Angie are staying, and embraces her daughter briefly before taking her grandson back to her room with her. He'll eat lunch with them, go swimming at the hotel pool for a while, and take his nap while his mother performs in the matinee show. Then they'll all go out to dinner together during Jade's break between shows, before meeting all of her friends at the theater to attend the evening performance.

"Where's Mom?" Miles asks, looking around the crowded theater "I don't see her."

"She's behind that curtain." John explains to his grandson, pointing at the red velvet curtain just about ten yards in front of them "In a little while it will lift up and she'll be on the stage singing and dancing with a bunch of other people."

"Will she see me?"

"She might." John shrugs "But remember, she's playing pretend. So she isn't allowed to talk to us, and we're not allowed to talk to her. And we need to stay quiet so the other people around us can hear the music. Okay?"

"Okay Grandpa."

Miles had been given the choice of who's lap he wanted to sit on during the show, seeing as he wouldn't be able to see the stage at all if he sat in a seat on his own. Normally in Jade's absence he always opts to be with Cat, seeing as she's the one he spends the most amount of time with. But he had spent a majority of the day with his grandparents and was quite attached to them at the moment, so he selected his grandfather to sit with. John had been honored, but knows the little boy will grow restless eventually and will end up jumping from lap to lap throughout the performance.

The look on Miles' face when the music starts to play and he sees his mother appear on stage for the first time is priceless, John wishes recording would have been allowed so that he could have captured the moment on video to show his daughter afterwards. His eyes light up and a grin spreads across his face as he watches her dance and sing across the stage. He does grow restless though, and he does get passed from person to person to keep him from fidgeting too much. Cat and Tori take him out to the lobby during intermission to let him run around and burn off some energy before returning to the theater to watch the second half of the performance, and by the time curtain call rolls around he's sitting with Andre.

"Yay Mommy!" Miles cheers, clapping his hands together as Andre lifts him onto his shoulders to get a better view "Good job!"

"Excuse me!" The woman behind them scoffs "I can't see!"

"His mom is up there!" Tori turns around to tell the woman, nodding towards the stage "It's her last show! He wants to see!"

The woman rolls her eyes and continues clapping with everyone else, obviously dissatisfied but not motivated enough to cause a bigger scene.

After the curtain call is over and the lights in the theater come on again, John leads the way for the group to follow him to the stage door where Jade instructed them to go. They give her name and confirm how many people are in their party, and then they are allowed backstage to see her.

"MOMMY!" Miles practically screams when he spots her, wriggling out of Andre's arms

"Little Man!" She grins, dropping to her knees and opening her arms for a hug

He crashes into her and she wraps her arms around him tightly as she presses a kiss to the top of his head.

"What did you think?" She says quietly so only he can hear

"It was so good!" Miles grins "You were so- what's on your face?"

"Makeup." Jade laughs "I have to wear a lot of it so people can see it even from the seats all the way in the back. I look a little funny don't I?"

"A little bit." Miles nods "But can I come back and see you again tomorrow?"

"No baby, I'm sorry." Jade frowns "This was my last show, it's someone else's turn now."

"Oh." Miles looks sad

"But you know what? I'm going to be home _so_ much more now." Jade tells him "No more coming home from work in the middle of the night."

"Good." Miles grins, hugging her again "I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, Miles."

Her friends and family each get their turn to hug her and fawn over her and congratulate her. They take a million pictures, but Jade's favorites are of her and Miles. For such a long time she's so badly wanted a picture of him with her in her stage makeup and costume, and now she has multiple.

As they exit the theater, Jade says goodnight to her parents and step-parents, agreeing to meet them for breakfast in the morning before they all fly home again, and then walks with her friends to the train stop where they'll board a train to take them across the river and back to the apartment.

Miles is fast asleep by now, with his head leaning against Jade's shoulder and his face snuggled into her neck. Andre and Robbie both offer to carry him home for her, but she's quite content to hold him while he dreams. They laugh and they talk on the way home, filling the usually close-to-silent train car with noise, but Miles doesn't stir. He's fast asleep and dreaming, and Jade presses another kiss to the top of his head as she watches the city skyline grow smaller behind them.

"Jade?"

"Hm?"

"You alright?" Cat nudges her "You were zoning out."

"I'm good." Jade nods, looking down at Miles "I was just thinking about what comes next."

"Which is?"

"Preschool for him." Jade sighs "Junior year for us. But other than that...I'm not really sure. And honestly, I'm okay with it."


	20. Always You

"Smile real big for me, Miles." Jade tells her son

"Cheese!" Miles grins

"Oh, you look so cute!" Cat squeals

He's wearing a denim short-sleeved shirt with a collar, khaki shorts, and black converse. As he smiles, Jade suddenly sees so much of Beck in him.

"What does this say?" Miles asks, looking at the paper Jade had asked him to hold

"It says 'First Day of Preschool'." Jade tells him "And on the last day of school in May, I'll take a picture of you holding one that says 'Last Day of Preschool' so we can see how much you grow over the year."

Miles is going to be attending a pre-school only a block or so away from the NYU campus. Jade will drop him off in the mornings there before her classes, and then when he's finished for the day he'll travel with the other children of NYU students and employees over to the daycare center. When Jade gets off of work, back at the diner where she had waitressed during her freshman year, she'll pick him up and they'll go home together.

"Am I going to grow a lot?"

"Probably." Jade smiles, ruffling her hair "I've learned to accept that you're going to keep growing bigger and bigger no matter how hard I try to stop you."

"Why don't you want me to get bigger?"

"It's not that I don't want you do..." Jade sighs, fixing his hair "I'm just going to miss my little baby Miles is all."

"I'll always be your little baby Miles." He tells her, wrapping her up in a big hug

"I know." Jade tells him, kissing his cheek as she tries her best to fight off tears "Now go get your backpack, okay? We don't want to be late on the first day."

"Kk!" Miles exclaims, causing his mother to laugh at his use of her friend's most commonly-used affirmation

"I can't believe he picked up on that." Jade looks to Cat

"There are worse things I could have taught him." Cat reminds her "You okay, mama?"

"Yeah." Jade sighs "I mean it's inevitable isn't it?"

"Well, yes...but you're still allowed to be sad about it if you want."

"It's not so much a sad feeling as it is a bittersweet one." Jade admits "I'll be fine."

"Alright." Cat shrugs "Hey, can you send me that picture of him? I want to post it on instagram and be the annoying godmother."

"Sure." Jade chuckles, unlocking her phone to type out a message to Cat "I should probably send it to everyone else too. My mom is going to cry."

"I'm surprised you haven't yet." Cat admits

"I will eventually." She sighs "Just not in front of anyone."

New York is three hours ahead of Los Angeles, so really anyone that Jade sends the picture to other than Cat, Robbie and Andre, won't be awake to look at it for a few hours still. Jade smiles at the idea of everyone she knows waking up to the picture and then smiling too themselves.

Beck doesn't check his phone right away when he wakes up that day, he and Mallory are a bit...preoccupied, but when he does finally see the picture of his son he feels a wave of emotion come over him. On one hand, he can't stop smiling because his little man looks so grown up. But on the other, his heart feels heavy because...well because his little man looks so grown up.

"Look at Miles." He says, rolling over to show his phone to Mallory

"Hm?" Mallory looks up from her own phone "Oh. How...cute."

She doesn't study the picture all that closely, and continues scrolling through her social media.

"I can't believe he's already in preschool." Beck sighs as he types out a quick response to Jade and then sets his phone down "It seems like just yesterday I was holding hi-"

"Someone is coming to clean the pool today." Mallory cuts him off "Can you make sure you show them where the _right_ cleaner is? Last time they came, they used generic and my skin was breaking out for _weeks_."

"Sure." Beck nods "How long do you think you'll be on set today?"

She's filming a four-part series for HBO and only had a week off before she had to start once they got back from Paris. Beck only ever really sees her first thing in the morning and then in the evenings.

"Hopefully only half the day." Mallory sighs "Then I'm all yours for the rest of it."

"Okay, cool." Beck says "Hey, I was thinking. We've been living together for almost a month now and my parents have never even seen the place. Maybe we could have them over for dinner tonight?"

"Oh, not tonight." Mallory shakes her head "I'm going to be exhausted from filming."

"Right. Okay. Maybe another night then?"

"Maybe another night." Mallory agrees

This is how most of their conversations went. Beck is expected to go along with whatever Mallory thinks or wants because she's 'the one working right now' or 'too tired' or 'the one who pays the bills' or 'been in the business much longer than you have, Beck'. He doesn't remember relationships being this hard, but then again he's never lived with a girlfriend before. This must just be what cohabitation is like.

Mallory gets ready for work, kisses Beck goodbye, and then leaves for set. He takes a shower and heads down to the kitchen where Mallory's live-in chef makes him an omelet for breakfast, then goes out to the pool to tan for a bit while he waits for the cleaners to arrive. He shows them the pool chemicals that Mallory wants them to use, then goes back inside to find his laptop. When Mallory returns home again he's in the bedroom again, scrolling though something on the internet.

"What are you up to?" She asks, snuggling up beside him on the bed

"Just looking at some stuff for Miles." Beck tells her "I have a few more projects coming up between now and the movie premiere next summer, so I'm going to have a bit of extra money floating around. I thought maybe I could get him a bigger bed."

"I'm sure his mom would appreciate that." Mallory nods, tracing circles on Beck's chest with her finger

"I meant for here." Beck corrects her "If it's alright with you, I'd like to convert one of the empty bedrooms into a room for him."

"No."

"No?"

"No." Mallory sits up "Why would you do that?"

"So he has somewhere to sleep when he stays here?" Beck tells her

"Why would he be staying here?" Mallory asks him "He lives with his mom."

"Well yeah, but he visits me in the summers." Beck reminds her "Mallory, we've talked about this multiple times. He lives with Jade during the school year and spends his summers with me. And eventually they _will_ be moving back to California and he'll be with me every other weekend again."

"So, were you going to ask me first?" Mallory raises an eyebrow at him "Or were you just going to start making changes to my home without consulting me first?"

"I mean, of course I would have told you I was doing it." Beck says "But I thought this was supposed to be _our_ home? We live here _together_."

"I pay for it."

"So, do you want me to start giving you money for rent then?" Beck scoffs "Is that what it's going to take to actually feel at home here?"

"You don't feel at home?"

"Why should I?" Beck exclaims "You won't let me invite my family or friends over, you won't let me set up a room for _my_ _son_, I can't hang up any of my own pictures, and you treat me like a glorified assistant. Asking me to stay home and wait for the pool cleaner while you go to work...jeez...I swear Mallory, it's like you're only interested in having sex with me and nothing else."

"That is not all I'm interested in." Mallory assures him "You're _so_ talented, Beck. And you're so kind and so intelligent, you're just not-"

"Elite enough yet?"

"That's not what I was going to say."

"It's what you were thinking though, wasn't it?" He asks her "I'm not world famous yet. I'm not as old as you, I'm not dripping in diamonds like you. I'm just a guy who's been in a few commercials and made one movie, and I just happen to be good-looking so that's why you're interested in me."

"I am interested in more than just that."

"What's my son's name?"

"Beck, don't be silly." Mallory rolls her eyes "I know his name."

"What is it then?"

"Mar..." Mallory hesitates "Matthew?"

"Miles!" Beck exclaims "His name is Miles! He's three and he started pre-school today! I talk about him all the damn time-"

"I know." Mallory sighs "Don't remind me."

"Excuse me?"

"All you ever talk about is your son and your ex." Mallory says "'My son did this, my son did that. My ex is on broadway, Mallory! Let's go see her!' Your kid I understand, but why do you care about Julie so much?"

"Jade, her name is Jade." Beck corrects her "And I care about her because not only is she the mother of my son, which makes her family, but also because she's my friend."

"Well I'm your _girlfriend_. I wish you cared about my projects and wishes as much as you cared about her's."

"Your wishes?" Beck raises an eyebrow "I'm sorry, have you forgotten that I didn't go see her last broadway performance _ever_ because _you_ asked me not to? I missed out on the opportunity to support her, see my friends, and see my _son_ because _you_ were jealous. I lied to all of them because _you_ asked me to. And don't try to tell me that I don't care about your projects. I offer to run lines with you, I try to visit you on set, but you're the one always saying no to me. You're making it impossible to be a good boyfriend."

"I think we need to take a step back from all of this." Mallory suggests "We're almost done with the last episode, and after that we can go out to my place in Sydney like you suggested. We can get away from work and LA and we can just be together."

"No." Beck shakes his head "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Because when things get bad, we can't just run away from them." He tells her "We can't run off to your place in Sydney and have sex every time we have an argument. We need to learn how to communicate and how to compromise. I've made so many compromises for you, and now I'd really appreciate if you'd make some for me. Starting with dinner with my parents and a room for Miles."

"I can't do that right now..."

"Then I can't do this." Beck sighs, retreating into the closet to grab his suitcase

"Wait." Mallory grabs his hand "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying we're done, Mallory." Beck tells her "Listen, we barely knew each other when I moved in, and now I'm starting to see you're not the person that I thought you were. I don't mean to make you upset or hurt you at all, but we're too different to work."

"Beck..."

"Not every relationship works out, and that's okay. There's a million guys out there who would _die_ to be your live-in sex toy." Beck shakes his head "I'm going to stay at my parents tonight, I'll come back tomorrow when you're on set to get the rest of my things."

"What do I have to say to get you to say?" Mallory asks "Anything, Beck. Anything."

"It's too late for that, Mallory. I'm sorry."

* * *

"I feel really stupid." Beck sighs, throwing the football to James "I fell for the Hollywood bullshit."

"Live and learn, I'm afraid." His father tells him, throwing the football back

Beck is temporarily living back in his old RV, but only for a few days. He promised his parents he'd have a new apartment within a week, he just needed somewhere to stay in the meantime. They were more than willing to let him stay, happy to have their son in close proximity to them again.

"I've cycled through all of these girls in the past few years, and all I was ever really looking for was stability, you know? Someone who loved me no matter the circumstance, regardless of how much money I was making or what being with me would do for their reputation." Beck admits, catching the ball and walking towards the patio to take a sip from the glass of water his mother had brought out "Like, do you really think I could have gotten Mallory Lynn to go out with me and ask me to move in with her if I was still working as a landscaper?"

"Dunno, son." James shrugs "You're not a bad looking kid."

"Thanks, Dad." Beck sighs "But you know what I mean. Those people that have been around money and success all their life...most of them have lost touch with reality. Mallory is _so_ superficial and I couldn't even see it."

"The important thing is making sure _you_ don't turn into that." James reminds him "And I doubt you will. You're a pretty decent judge of character and you've got your head on straight."

"I thought relationships would get easier when I got older." Beck admits "But honestly...they've only gotten harder."

"Relationships are a lot of work, but love shouldn't be." James tells him "It shouldn't be hard to love someone."

"Loving Jade was never hard." Beck sighs "The relationship was hard sometimes, but the love wasn't. It hasn't been that easy to love someone since. Except Miles of course, but that's different."

"Communication was never you and Jade's strong suit." James chuckles "But that's something that comes with age. You learn how to communicate better the older that you get."

"You're right, Dad."

Communication and problem-solving were two things that he'd really improved on since Miles was born, especially when it came to doing both of those things with Jade. Their relationship wasn't healthy before, but it is now. And he's grateful for that. He's grateful that they've found a way to raise their son together without compromising anything else, he's grateful that she's still in his life, she's grateful...well for her.

"Dad?"

"Hm?"

"I think I figured it out." Beck chuckles nervously

"Figured what out?"

"I need to get to the airport."

* * *

"Then all around from far away across the world he smelled good things to eat, so he gave up being king of where the wild things are." Jade reads, Miles snuggled up next to her on the couch "But the wild things cried, 'Oh please don't go-we'll eat you up-we love you so!' And Max said-"

She stops reading when a knock at the door startles both her and Miles. It's getting late, and it's rare that anyone ever knocks on their door at all let alone at this hour.

"I'll get it." Cat tells them, walking out of her bedroom "Keep reading."

"Alright." Jade nods, turning back to the book "And Max said 'No'!"

"Uh, Jadey?" Cat says, looking through the peephole a second time

She wants to make sure that she's actually seeing what she thinks she's seeing, and she is. She undoes the chain and unlocks the door, opening it for the person on the other side to enter the apartment.

"Daddy!" Miles exclaims

He leaps off the couch and runs over to Beck, jumping into his father's arms and hugging him tightly.

"Hey Little Man." Beck smiles, kissing his temple "I missed you."

"I missed you too!" Miles tells him "I didn't know you were coming!"

"Neither did I..." Jade says, standing up from the couch "Is everything okay?"

"Can you give us a second?" Beck asks Cat, setting Miles down on the ground

"Sure." Cat nods "Come with me, Miles. We can play on my computer."

"But Daddy just got here."

"Go with your aunt, Miles Beckett." Jade says sternly "Don't make me tell you again."

"Alright." Miles says sadly, hanging his head and following Cat into her bedroom

Cat closes her door to give them privacy, but Beck still pulls Jade into her own bedroom and closes the door as well just to ensure they're as alone as they possibly can be.

"What the hell is going on?" Jade asks him

"I broke up with Mallory." He tells her

"Thank god." Jade sighs, obviously received "But don't tell me you flew all the way across the country just to tell me that."

"Not _just_ that." Beck admits "Do you remember why we broke up?"

"Our relationship wasn't healthy." Jade reminds him "And we tried to figure out a way to make it better for both of us, but we couldn't."

"I think we phrased it 'figuring things out', right?" Beck asks "We tried to 'figure it out' but we couldn't."

"Sure." Jade shrugs "What does this have to do with-"

"Shhh." Beck stops her, grabbing her hands "I was talking to my dad earlier and he told me that relationships can be hard sometimes, but love never should be. Love should be easy, Jade. And it's never been as easy to love someone as at was to love you...as it _still_ is to love you."

"Y-you love me?"

"Yeah." Beck nods, tears forming in the corners of his eyes "I don't think I ever stopped. It's always been you, Jade. We needed the time apart to figure out how to communicate with one another without blowing up all the time...and we can do that now, can't we?"

"We can." She nods

Which is true. Sometimes they disagree on things, but they haven't resorted to an argument in almost a year. They're twenty now, Beck is almost twenty-one, they've lived more of their lives, learned more about how people work. They can communicate effectively with one another.

"I'm learning very quickly that Hollywood is full of superficial people." Beck tells her "But you...you're one of the most down to earth people I've ever met. You're a great mother to our son, and a great friend to me...but I miss you being my other half. When we broke up there was this void in me that I've been trying to fill for so long...but no one could ever fill it. And I think that's because it's only meant to be filled by you. I've been shitty, and I know that. I'm past that, I promise. I'm the best version of myself that I've ever been and-"

"Beck, I-"

He's kissing her, it takes her a moment to register it, but he's kissing her. Her senses are exploding, like she had been asleep for the past three years and was only now just waking up. She had forgotten how thrilling this could be, what the strong sense of desire felt like, how the right person could just make her feel like she was melting. She never felt that with Brandon, she's never felt that with anyone but Beck.

"I'm sorry." He apologizes, breaking away from her "I shouldn't have-"

"No don't be." She grabs his face in her hands and kisses him again

"Be my girlfriend again." He begs, resting his forehead against her's "Please, let's try again. Let's be better this time."

"We have to be careful." Jade reminds him "There's someone else involved."

"That's exactly why we _should_ try again." He agrees "Let's be better this time around, for him."

"For him..." Jade agrees "And for us."

"And for us." Beck nods "God, I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." Jade smiles "I...I love you."

"I love you too." Beck grins "And I hope I never lose you again."


	21. Distance

Cat doesn't immediately find out why Beck showed up unannounced at her and Jade's apartment, or why he needed to be alone with Jade almost immediately. Eventually, Jade comes into her room and thanks both her and Miles for letting them talk, and tells Miles it's time to take his bath.

Beck and Jade assist him with that, and Cat stays out of the way. She stays in her room watching YouTube videos until Miles runs in to say goodnight to her. After he's in bed for the evening she joins her two friends in the living room briefly, listening to Beck talk about his time in Paris and recount his whirlwind relationship and eventual breakup with Mallory Lynn. Around eleven she says goodnight to them both and retreats to her bedroom for the evening, closing the door tightly behind her.

When she awakes the next morning and stumbles sleepily into the kitchen to make herself coffee, she notices that the sleeper sofa isn't undone and that Beck is nowhere to be found. She's confused for a moment, thinking that maybe he left early to fly back to LA, wondering why she hadn't heard him leave. Normally commotion in the apartment in the mornings wakes her up, especially when Miles is part of it. Surely he would have woken up to say goodbye to his father, maybe even cried a bit when he left.

Her thoughts are interrupted when the door to Jade's bedroom opens and both Miles and Beck both emerge out of it.

"Morning Aunt Cat!" Miles grins, running over to her and hugging her legs

"Good morning." Cat wraps an arm around him to hug him, shooting Beck an amused yet still confused face "How'd you sleep?"

"Good." Miles tells her "Daddy had a sleep over."

"Did he now?"

Jade emerges from the bedroom and makes brief eye contact with Cat, a shy and embarrassed, yet happy, smile spreading across her face.

"Sleepover?" Cat raises an eyebrow

"Uh huh." Jade nods, looking downward and away from her friend

She runs a hand through her hair to pull it back and out of her face as walks across the apartment to enter the bathroom, passing Cat on her way.

"Tell me later?" Cat whispers to her

"Oh most definitely."

* * *

Beck and Jade don't have sex on the night that they get back together. They would never do it in the same room as Miles, even if he was fast asleep, and they would never risk doing it in the living room when it's possible he or Cat could walk in on them if they were to leave their bedrooms for some reason.

They decide it's for the best though, not rushing things and jumping right back into bed together. They want to take things slow, and they want to do it right this time. No rushing anything, no sitting on their emotions rather than expressing them, and no screaming matches. They're adults now, they know how to communicate. The only thing that is going to make things hard is the distance.

"I don't necessarily have to go back to California." Beck shrugs "Like, maybe I could find a place in the city and live here while you finish school."

They're holding hands, walking through Central Park. Miles is riding his big wheel a few yards out in front of them on the path, but there's a handle on the back of it almost like a stroller so one of his parents can push him when he gets tired. The sun is setting on another day in late August, and the weather is actually quite nice at the moment. Jade feels like she's in the end of a romantic comedy, when the big issue has resolved itself and the couple is happily back together. It's not a movie though, she knows that. This real life, and there's still a lot to consider before she and Beck can have their happy ending.

"That sounds nice, but it's not necessarily practical." Jade admits "I mean, you have projects back in LA, don't you?"

"I do." Beck nods

After getting this last movie on his resume, he had caught the attention of a few different casting directors. In a few weeks he's set to start work on another movie, this one not quite as big-budgeted and filming in LA rather than on location, but it will still do good things for his career. After that, he has a three episode arc lined up with Grey's Anatomy. Surely after that, he'll book more projects. And he'll have to start doing press for his movie with Mallory and attend the premiere eventually. It will be at least a year before it's even possible for him to move to New York full time, and by that point Jade will almost be done with school anyways.

"We're just going to have to try and make the long distance work then." Jade tells him "You can visit when you can, and Miles and I will visit when we can. It won't be easy but-"

"Easy is boring." Beck finishes for her

"I was going to say 'we can handle it'." Jade chuckles, leaning in to kiss him "We shouldn't bank on that 'easy is boring' thing anymore. I mean, didn't we say that love _should_ be easy?"

"We did." Beck nods "And you're right. We shouldn't bank on that."

Love does come easy to them though, at it's relieving to them both. It's so easy for them to say 'I love you' to one another and genuinely mean it. Cat notices a change in Jade in just a few days, she seems happier, she seems the most like herself that she has in a while.

Beck stays in New York for a week before he returns to LA. He wishes he could stay longer, but he still needs to find himself a new apartment and he needs to start preparing for his next movie role.

Jade goes with him to the airport to say goodbye, leaving Miles with Cat so they can have their moment together before he leaves. It's disheartening to both of them, not knowing when the next time is that they'll see each other. But with Jade no longer being tied to Broadway every single day of her life and Beck having more free time in his schedule than he used to, they know they'll be able to manage more visits than they could before. Especially now that the visits incorporate their relationship with one another and not just visiting Miles.

"It feels like we're breaking up all over again." Jade admits "I feel like I'm losing you."

"You're not." Beck assures her, tilting her chin upward so they can make eye contact "You'll never lose me."

"Is that a promise?"

_Her eyes._

"It is." He nods slowly, a smile spreading across his face

He suddenly remembers how much he loves her eyes. They're blue. Not the ordinary sky blue, or the color of the paint flaking off of the side of an old house that desperately needs to be painted, or even the little flowers that bloom along the sides of the paths in Central Park. Her eyes are blue like ocean water, crystal clear blue. Looking into her eyes he can almost hear the waves falling against the shore, see the foam flying into the air. Her eyes are that kind of blue. They're piercing, yet comforting and familiar all at once. Her eyes are beautiful and their son is fortunate enough to have inherited the same ones.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asks him

"Your eyes..." Beck says quietly "I forgot how beautiful they are."

"Brandon used to tell me they were blue like glacier ice..." Jade sighs "I feel like he was trying to politely tell me that they made me look cold."

"The hottest fires burn blue." Beck reminds her, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear "You're not cold, you're one of the most compassionate people I've ever met. People just have a nasty habit of not looking close enough to see it."

"You've already got me back, Oliver." Jade laughs "You don't need to flirt anymore."

"I'm never going to stop flirting with you." Beck smirks "I'm going to spend every day acting like I'm still trying to win you over. And should any other girls try to flirt with _me_, I'm going to shut them down right on the spot because I have a girlfriend and even if it's friendly...it's still not right."

"Thank you." Jade says, a relieved tone in her voice

She leans into him and hugs him tightly as he kisses the top of her head.

"I gotta go..." He sighs, rubbing her back gently "My flight is going to start boarding in twenty minutes."

"I know." Jade nods "Call me as soon as you land."

"I will." Beck promises, leaning down to kiss her goodbye "I love you."

"I love you too." Jade tells him

They hug goodbye and kiss one more time before Beck turns away from her to start making his way through the security line. She watches him until he's disappeared out of sight, then retreats back outside to call a taxi to take her home.

Time feels as if it's passing so slowly without him, and she can't think about anything other than how much she already misses him. She wonders if he's on the plane yet and who he's sitting next to, if he's thinking about her and missing her the same way that she is him.

_This is love_. She thinks to herself as she climbs into the taxi and gives the driver her address

It feels good to be in love.

* * *

It's almost two months before they see each other again.

Beck spends six weeks filming another movie, then waits a week before he travels to New York again. He doesn't want to distract Cat and Jade during their midterms, and he's able to find cheaper airfare that week too.

He's there over Halloween, and it's the first year Miles is actually old enough to be excited about it. Jade has dressed him up in the past, his first Halloween he was a monkey, and the two years following he was a spider. Now he gives input, though. He wants to be Scooby-Doo.

Beck is happy to see his son has taken a liking for a cartoon he had once loved as a child as well. He and Jade are happy to take Miles out to a party store and find a Scooby-Doo costume in his size, and Miles is practically bouncing off the walls as he tries it on.

"We should dress up with him." Beck suggests

"What?" Jade laughs

"We've done couples costumes before." Beck reminds her "Remember the year we went as Jack and Sally?"

"Of course I remember." Jade assures him "But we were in high school then, we were kids."

"College students dress up too." Beck laughs "You see it on instagram every year, don't lie. Besides, Miles would love it."

"Miles?" Jade calls to her son "Do you want me and Daddy to dress up for Halloween with you?"

"Yeah!" Miles exclaims

"Told you." Beck smirks, watching his son with amusement

They buy matching Fred and Daphne costumes. Velma and Shaggy probably would have matched a little better with Miles' Scooby-Doo, but Beck and Jade both agree they're more suited to the costumes they actually buy. On Halloween night, Cat leaves to go to a party with some other friends from school, but Beck and Jade climb into Jade's car with Miles in tow and drive about half an hour to the nearest suburb. They walk around the neighborhood together, watching as their son runs from door to door saying 'trick-or-treat' and constantly readjusting his Scooby ears as they fall off of his head.

"He's pretty great, isn't he?" Jade sighs with a smile as Beck loops an arm around her waist

"Yeah, he is." Beck agrees, giving her a peck on the cheek "We did a good job."

* * *

Cat, Jade, and Miles fly home to Los Angeles for Thanksgiving a few weeks later.

It's the first time Jade has been back to California since Miles' second birthday almost a year and a half prior. Broadway kept her pretty tethered to the city, and whenever there was a special occasion her family always had to fly to her. It feels good to step off of the plane and be immediately met with a rush of hot air after leaving a snowstorm behind on the east coast.

Beck meets them at the airport and Jade feels her heart grow a million sizes as Miles lets go of her hand and runs through the baggage claim area to meet him. Despite living on opposite coasts, their father-son bond is strong, and that's all she's ever wanted for them.

They drop Cat off at home and then go back to Beck's new apartment. It's slightly bigger than his first one, but is still only two bedrooms. He tells Jade it's only temporary, and that after he starts making movie-money from ticket sales and box office openings in a few months, the first thing he's going to buy is a house. Nothing too big, maybe four bedrooms, but somewhere that will feel like home to all three of them one day.

Throughout the week they're in LA, Jade and Miles are visiting everyone. Beck and Jade's friends, both sets of her parents, his parents...it's a lot. Beck is invited to spend Thanksgiving with the two of them at Kaitlyn and Chris's, and it's the first time he'll ever be present for a holiday meal in the entire time he's known Jade.

Their families are aware that they're back together at this point, and all are hopeful that it works out for them this time. Tyler, now eleven and in middle school, is happy to have Beck back in his life. He's was the closest thing he ever had to an older brother, and he's glad that he can think of him that way again.

"You two seem like you're doing well." Kaitlyn says to Jade

They've finished eating, and Beck, Miles, and Tyler are all in the backyard with Chris and his own father chasing after a soccer ball. Jade stands at the kitchen window, a smile on her face as she watches them play.

"Me and Miles?" She asks "Or me and Beck?"

"You and Beck." Kaitlyn clarifies "You've been here six hours almost and there hasn't been a single argument."

"Very funny." Jade rolls her eyes "We're older now, we've learned how to communicate more effectively. We've also learned how much we used to take one another for granted. We're in a much healthier place now."

"How has Miles reacted to it?" Kaitlyn asks "He's never known you two as a couple."

"He doesn't quite understand it yet." Jade admits "He probably won't for a while. But he's really happy he gets more time with both of us together rather than one on one, and Beck is visiting a lot more too."

"I can imagine he enjoys that, yes." Kaitlyn laughs "I'm really proud of you, sweetheart."

"For what?" Jade smirks "Getting back with my high school boyfriend?"

"No." Kaitlyn assures her "For handling all of this so beautifully. You work, you go to school, you raise your son, and you're still managing to find a way to sort out your personal relationships and prioritize what's important."

"Yeah well." Jade shrugs "I had a great role model to watch when I was younger."

Kaitlyn only smiles as she kisses her daughter's cheek and wraps an arm around her, continuing to watch everyone in the back yard.


	22. Love of My Life

"Good morning, beautiful." Beck says as he answers his phone

"Good morning?" Jade chuckles "It's almost one o'clock in the afternoon."

She's walking down a crowded New York City sidewalk, weaving her way in and out of a mob of people as she makes her way from class to work.

"For you maybe." Beck reminds her "I just woke up."

"What is it there?" She asks him "Ten? By ten o'clock I've already gotten up, showered, gotten Miles up and dressed, fed us both, taken him to school, and gone to at least one class."

"Well, that's because you're a super mom and I'm just a mere actor." Beck tells her "I wish I was half as awesome as you."

"Do you want something?" Jade laughs "I mean, I'm flattered but-"

"I don't want anything." Beck insists "I'm trying to get better at the whole words of affirmation thing, you know? Telling you how much I appreciate you in the moment when I'm feeling it."

"Ah, well in that case you're not so bad yourself." Jade smirks "Love you."

"I love you too." Beck tells her "Whatcha up to?"

"I'm on my way to work." Jade sighs

"Don't sound so excited."

"Oh yes, because waiting tables is my _passion_." Jade rolls her eyes "Screw acting and writing, I'll just spend the rest of my life being fake-nice to rude people who don't tip."

"You're so close, Jade." Beck reminds her "Only one more year of school and then you'll be back here living your best life and chasing your dream."

Like Beck, Jade also dreams of one day acting in major blockbuster movies and being known around the world, but she also wants to write movies and plays of her own. To do that she needs her degree, and that degree is just over a year away.

"Yeah, yeah." She sighs "How are things with you?"

"Crazy." Beck admits "We just got our schedules for The Runaway- that's the name of the movie-"

"I know, you told me."

"We just got our schedule for the press tour and its insane." Beck sighs "We're doing promo in Paris, London, Sydney,-"

"That sounds like a lot of travel." Jade sighs, slightly disheartened

She and Miles are almost done with school, and she had been hoping that they might be able to visit Beck at some point in the week or so following their final exams. But it sounds as if right now they won't see him for at least a month.

"Hold on, let me finish." Beck tells her "We're also going to be in New York _and_ LA."

"That sounds better." Jade admits "When does all of that kick off?"

"Not until June." Beck says "And I have this sort of crazy idea..."

"Careful, last time you said that I got pregnant." Jade smirks "I'm kidding, what's your crazy idea?"

"I don't have to leave for a few weeks still, and I was thinking maybe you and Miles could fly out here once school is done." Beck suggests "Then Miles could stay with my parents or maybe with your's and then...well you could come on the press tour with me."

It's a very tempting offer. So tempting in fact, that Jade almost says 'yes' right there on the spot without even thinking.

"I dunno, babe..." She sighs "That's a lot of time to take off of work and a long time for Miles to be away from both of us..."

"It's only two weeks." Beck adds "It'll be exhausting, but...we'll be together. You and me, real alone time...at least a little bit of it when I'm not working."

"And Miles?"

"We'll call him every day." Beck assures her "Maybe even more than that. You don't have to give me an answer right now, but will you promise me you'll at least think about it?"

"I promise." Jade tells him "But I have to go now, I gotta clock in. I love you."

"I love you too, baby." Beck says "I'll call you later, have a great day."

It only takes about thirty minutes of Jade's waiting tables for her to have her answer to Beck's suggestion, she wants to go on the press tour with him. Sure, it'll probably mean a lot of alone time in hotel rooms for her while he gives interviews and does photoshoots, but they _will_ have time to be together. Not to mention it's a trip at the expense of the production studio, and Miles would get some time with his grandparents that he wouldn't usually.

"I want to come with you." She calls to tell him later that night "I've just been waitressing and going to school almost non-stop for close to ten months straight, I need a break."

"That's why I suggested it." Beck admits "I figured you would, and the extra time with you is a plus as well."

"I can't wait to see you." Jade admits

"I can't wait to see you either."

"Mom?" Jade feels a tug at her shirt and looks down to see Miles staring up at her "Who are you talking to?"

"I, uh..." Jade hesitates, before admitting defeat "It's Daddy. Do you want to talk?"

"Yes, please!" Miles exclaims

"We've been caught." Jade chuckles "He wants to talk to you, is it alright if I call you back after he's asleep?"

"Sure thing." Beck assures her "And as soon as I finish talking to him I'll call my agent to go ahead with the plus one with the tour."

"Alright." Jade grins "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Here's Miles." Jade tells him, handing the phone over to her son

* * *

Jade has never been to Sydney, London, or Paris, but she finds herself falling in love with each city in a different way. She loves the exoticness of Sydney and spending time on the beach with Beck, she loves the environment in London and all of the history that it holds, and what's not to love about Paris? It is the city of _love_ after all.

Well actually, there is one thing not to love.

"This is where you met Mallory." Jade sighs

She's standing on the balcony of Beck's hotel room with him, looking out at the twinkling lights of the city in front of them. They can't quite see the Eiffel Tower because of their position, but they can see the lights on top that warn airplanes of its presence.

"It is." Beck nods, taking her hand and kissing it "It's also where I told her that I love her, and that she told me the same. But-"

"Because that makes me feel _so_ much better." Jade rolls her eyes as she yanks her hand away "You're doing great, keep going."

"I was going to say..." Beck wraps an arm around her shoulder and pulls her closer to him again "That I only loved Mallory in Paris, and even then I only _thought_ that I loved her...I didn't actually. But I _know_ I love you in every city...Sydney, London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles...everywhere. All the time. No matter where we are...together or not...I love you. That's never going to change. You're the love of my life."

"Mhmmm..." Jade nods with a smirk as he kisses her temple "Say that again?"

"You're the love of my life, Jade West." Beck turns her towards him so their faces are less than an inch apart

Jade almost laughs at how cliche the moment is as he tilts her chin upwards slightly and presses one of the most passionate kisses she's ever felt from him to her lips.

Paris. They're in Paris. Declaring their love for one another on a balcony. All that is missing is fireworks and a better view of the Eiffel Tower and it's a cheesy romance movie. But what do they care? They're in love with one another, and that's all that they care about.

"I love you too." She whispers with a smile, tugging on his shirt to pull him with her back into the hotel room "Let's go to bed."

* * *

"This is surreal." Jade admits, watching the familiar streets of Los Angeles rush past her outside the car window "I can't believe we're going to a real Hollywood premiere. Oh, and for a movie that _you're_ in."

"Tell me about it." Beck grins "I can't believe it either."

The studio had sent a black Escalade to pick them up at Beck's new apartment, but hours before that hair and make up teams had arrived with full outfits for both of them. Beck is in a grey, almost silver, suit with a white shirt and matching silver tie. Jade is wearing a strapless navy blue evening gown that she had been hesitant about when she saw it on the hanger, but is in love with now that she actually sees herself in it. Both of their looks had been designed by Ralph Lauren, he had designed looks for the entire cast to wear to the premiere, and even though they'll have to return it all the following day, neither Beck nor Jade can believe that they're wearing actual designer clothing.

Miles had stayed with Beck's parents while they were away in other countries, and is now staying with Jade's mother and step-father so that Beck's parents can attend the movie premiere as well. A car had been sent for them too, and they would be meeting them inside the event after Beck and Jade finish walking the red carpet.

A red carpet. They're going to walk a red carpet.

"I'm so fucking proud of you." Jade leans over and kisses Beck "I always knew you'd make it big."

"Well, we're not quite there yet." Beck chuckles

"The critics can't shut up about it." Jade smiles "And they're _praising_ your performance."

Beck had opted not to read any reviews before the movie came out in theaters, but that hadn't stopped Jade. She read anything and everything she could about 'The Runaway' and it's new up-and-coming star, Beck Oliver. It was all good, everyone is loving it, and in just the few hours she and Beck had spent together that morning before their glamor teams arrived Beck's agent, which he could now afford to have, had called him five times with different movie offers. He knows he should enjoy it while it lasts, because it might not last long. Jade on the other hand knows that this is only the beginning for him.

"Beck! Beck! Look over here!"

The screams and shouts of fans and paparazzi are deafening from the moment they step out of the car. Everyone wants his picture, some even want an autograph. Beck squeezes Jade's hand as they make their way towards the red carpet, both of them knowing how nervous the other is. He slips an arm around her waist and they smile for the dozens of photo-ops as they make their way down the row of paparazzi, even kissing for a few shots. They have absolutely no idea, but in a few hours those pictures will be all over the internet, and all over magazine pages in the morning.

Beck does interviews, some of them Jade stands in for and other's she's instructed not to. Teen Beat and Sixteen magazines, those are fine for her to also be interviewed for along with her boyfriend. But the New York Times and MovieMaker Magazine? Those are just for him. She doesn't' mind standing to the side from time to time, this is _his_ night after all. She's just honored to be apart of it, and grateful that she's the one he ended up wanting to share it with.

"I'm really lucky." She hears him tell a reporter "My girlfriend has been nothing but supportive of me throughout this entire process, and I don't know what I've done to deserve her."

It makes her heart soar. She had given up hope on her and Beck ever being together again a long time ago, but she's so happy that the universe helped them find their way back to one another.

They take pictures together and with Beck's parents, Beck takes a few with some costars, and a few photographers even ask for some of Jade on her own. The evening is running rather smoothly until they get inside and are almost to their seats.

"Well well well." A voice from behind them says "Look who we have here."

"Mallory." Beck turns around and nods at her with a smug expression

He hadn't spoken to her since the day he moved out of her house. She had been on set the next day when he and his dad returned to gather the rest of his things, and he had managed to avoid and ignore her ever since.

"Who's your date?" Mallory asks him "I didn't know Make A Wish was handing out red carpet invitations now."

"Oh fuck off, Mallory." Beck tells her "Don't go after Jade just because you're jealous, she's-"

"Oh so this is Jade?" Mallory laughs "Wow, I can't believe I ever saw you as a threat."

"Isn't there somebody else's life you could go make miserable?" Beck asks her "I mean I feel sorry for your date, if you have one, but can't you go bother him?"

"Just be careful." Mallory shrugs "You have money and now the baby mama is interested in you again? Seems kind of fishy to me..."

"I love him." Jade cuts in

"Sure you do." Mallory laughs "I loved him once too."

"No you didn't." Beck shakes his head "You loved the idea of me, not me myself. There's a difference."

"A big difference." Jade agrees "I loved Beck before he was famous and I'll continue loving him now that he is."

"Whatever." Mallory scoffs "Beck, don't come crawling back to me when this doesn't work out. I'm not interested anymore."

With that, Mallory turns around and saunters away from them through the crowded theater

"At least my dress doesn't make my ass look fat!" Jade calls after her

"Jade..."

"What?" Jade shrugs "Oh come on, it does."

"You know nothing she said was true, right?" Beck asks her "You're beautiful and she's just jealous. And I know you're not with me because I'm famous now."

"I know you know." Jade assures him, pecking him quickly on the lips "And I appreciate you trying to defend me. But don't worry about her, this is _your_ big night and I can't wait to enjoy it with you."

Jade silences her phone during the premiere, not wanting to be distracted by anything or anyone. Beck's performance is amazing, his character is even hurt so bad at one point during the movie that Jade almost cries because she believes he's actually in that much pain. She cries for real when the movie is over though, trying her best not to smudge any makeup even though she knows it's inevitable at this point.

"Was I that bad?" Beck laughs

"No!" She grabs his face in her hands "You were that _good_. I'm so proud of you, Beck."

"Thank you, baby." He grins "Hopefully the rest of the world loves it too."

One of his co-stars invites them to an afterparty, assuring them both that Mallory will not be in attendance, and Beck and Jade decide to go. They figure they have a reason to celebrate, so why not go all out?

"I wish I could just rip that suit off of you right now." Jade admits as they climb into the car "I have to admit, I'm pretty turned on right now."

"Well, fuck." Beck chuckles "Let's just go home then."

"No, no." Jade shakes her head "You need to celebrate with your co-stars. We can have sex anytime, afterparties only happen once. I'll try to contain myself."

"Doesn't mean we can't make out a little bit on the way." He smirks, leaning in to kiss her just as Jade's phone buzzes between them "Oh please tell me that's _not_ about Miles."

"It's from Cat." Jade tells him, opening the messages "Holy shit, Beck. We're all over the internet."

"What?" He asks, taking the phone from her "Oh my gosh. 'Newcomer _Runaway_ Star Beck Oliver and His Girlfriend Jade Make Us Want To Believe In Love Again'...'Beck and Jade Are Couple Goals'...'We're Already Shipping Bade'. Babe, we have a couple name!"

"Crazy, huh?" Jade looks a bit overwhelmed

"Hey, it's alright." Beck assures her "Everyone will forget about it in a week."

"Or they might not." Jade shrugs "Our pictures are everywhere now."

"That's true..." Beck sighs "But hey, you know what the best part is?"

"What?"

"Mallory is going to fucking hate it."

"I think I can live with that." Jade smirks, leaning in to kiss him


	23. Famous

Miles and Jade stay in Los Angeles with Beck for five days after the premiere of his movie. All three of them enjoy and are thankful for the family time they get to spend each other not only with each other, but also with Beck and Jade's parents and with their friends who have become like family. Eventually though, Jade needs to return to work if she wants to keep her job, and it's not so much that she wants to keep it as she _needs_ to keep it, and Miles is anxious to return home to all of his toys, his friends, and his Aunt Cat.

For a few weeks life seems to continue on as normal, the only real difference being that Beck's face occasionally flashes across a giant LED board in Times Square when the movie poster is displayed. Jade goes to work, Miles goes to daycare, they fall back into their regular routine. But more and more people start to see Beck's movie, and more and more people start to fall in love with him. His number of social media followers increases by over eight million, and as the pictures of her and Beck on the red carpet continue to make their rounds around the internet Jade notices an increase in the amount of follow requests she's getting as well.

Both her Twitter and her Instagram are on private, so that only those who she gives permission to follow the accounts to can see what she posts. She's always had it set up this way, not only to maintain her own privacy but to maintain Miles' as well. However, about a month after the movie premieres Beck, at the request of his management team, asks her to turn them public so that anyone can follow without having to ask permission first. She's reluctant to do so but eventually complies, not wanting to damage her boyfriend's image, and gains about a million followers herself. This leads to many conversations between Beck and Jade about what they should or shouldn't post and delete from their accounts. They have pictures with exes on there, but most importantly they have dozens and dozens of pictures of Miles.

"We're old enough to consent to the attention." Jade reminds Beck over the phone one night "You knew what you were getting into when you signed on to do the movie, and I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to get back together with you. He's three, he doesn't understand that you're famous or what it even _means_ to be famous. But every time I log onto social media it feels like I see another one of his baby pictures circulating social media because someone stole it from our accounts. I still want him to be able to enjoy being a regular kid, you know?"

"I understand." Beck assures her "But I don't think we should erase all traces of him from our social media's either."

Neither one of them posted excessively about Miles, but just by scrolling through either one of their instagrams it's easy to tell that they have a son. If he does something cute, they'll post it to their stories. They're not acting any differently than any other parents would, they're just acting to a much larger audience now.

"That's not what I'm saying." Jade sighs, running a hand through her hair to push it out of her face "I'm saying that we need to find a way to protect him."

"The way I see it, as long as we're controlling what pictures we post of him, then he's okay." Beck tells her "It's when we start hiding him that people are going to start trying to invade his privacy. Well, actually...invasion of privacy is an occupational hazard at this point, there's not really much we can do to get around that. But hiding him will make it worse."

"So we just go on acting like normal?"

"Basically." Beck says "I have a lawyer working on obtaining all of the domain names associated with Miles so that no one can pretend to be him online or anything, and hopefully the paparazzi leave you two alone when you're just on your own. I might complicate things a bit though when I'm around."

"Like you said it's part of the job..." Jade nods "And as fucked up as it is that people are so willing to be invasive...it means they like you, at least for the most part. And that's good, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Beck chuckles "I guess so. I lined up three more projects today."

"That's great!" Jade tells him "Any traveling?"

"No, at least not yet." Beck assures her "Two new movies and a guest arc on a TV show, all based in LA."

"Sounds like you're going to be busy."

"Yeah, I will be." Beck admits "But, I do believe I'm scheduled to make an appearance on the Tonight Show sometime in there, so I'll be in New York for at least a few days."

"Oh darn." Jade teases him "I know how much you _hate_ coming here."

"I can't wait to come out." Beck tells her "I miss you both so much it hurts."

"We miss you too." Jade says "But we'll be back out there in a few weeks for birthdays."

"Oh believe me, I'm counting down the days."

* * *

"Mommy, Daddy!" Miles exclaims, running into Beck's bedroom "Wake up! It's my birthday!"

"Your birthday was last year, Miles." Jade groans, wrapping the blankets around her tighter and turning away from him

She and Miles had flown to Los Angeles with Cat late last night after they had gotten off work. Miles had fallen asleep in the car on the ride to Beck's apartment, but Jade hadn't gotten that luxury. She hadn't gotten into bed until what felt like three in the morning to her New York-adjusted body, and she and Beck stayed up much later than that celebrating their reunion. She had gotten maybe six hours of sleep but still feels exhausted.

"Don't be silly, Mommy." Miles giggles, climbing into the bed "Birthdays are every year! I'm four now!"

"You certainly are." Beck grins, stretching a bit before sitting up and wrapping his son up in a big hug "Happy Birthday, Little Man!"

"Thanks, Daddy!"

"You know who else has a birthday today?"

"Mommy!" Miles laughs, crawling off of Beck's lap and on top of Jade "Mommy! Wake up!"

"I'm up, I'm up." Jade yawns as she sits up "Happy Birthday, Miles."

"Happy Birthday, Mommy!"

"How about you two stay in here and watch some TV?" Beck suggests, grabbing the TV remote off of his nightstand and turning on Miles' favorite station "I'll go make some birthday pancakes."

"Only if Miles cuddles with me." Jade tells him

"Okay!" Miles grins, snuggling into his mother's side as she wraps her arms around him

The three of them have a relatively quiet morning together. Beck makes pancakes and brings them to his family for them to eat in bed, which Miles loves because Jade has never let him eat in bed before. Miles gets to stay in his pajamas longer than usual while Beck and Jade each take their turn in the shower, then the three of them head to lunch with their families. Beck's parents are there, as are both sets of Jade's and her brother. They eat at a little restaurant in West Hollywood, and Beck picks up the tab for the entire group, happy that he can finally start to repay them for all of the support they have given to not only him, but to Jade and Miles as well, over the past few years.

Miles is quite worn out from all of the excitement of the day so far, so Beck and Jade take him home to nap. While he's sleeping they retreat to Beck's bedroom for some birthday festivities of their own, being cautious of their volume so they don't wake him. They make sure they're dressed and freshened up by the time he wakes up, and spend an hour or so together down at the private pool in Beck's complex before returning upstairs to shower so that they can get Miles ready to go again.

It's John and Angie's turn to watch Miles in the grandparent rotation, and Beck drops him off around five in the afternoon so that Jade has a little extra time to get ready. She's the last of her friends to turn twenty-one, so that night she and Beck are going out to dinner with Cat, Tori, Andre, and Robbie and then to a club to celebrate. She's excited, she hasn't really gotten the experience of getting to go out and party like other college students have. So far her college weekends have mainly consisted of working or taking care of Miles, not parties and fake IDs. Cat and some of their other friends had invited her out a few times, but she always had to decline. But now, she doesn't have to worry about work for the time-being and her father is taking care of Miles, and she's able to act her age and just have fun.

"Dance with me!" Jade yells over the music in the club, grabbing Beck's hand and pulling him onto the crowded dance floor

"Alright, alright." Beck laughs, quickly handing his drink off to Andre so he doesn't spill it on someone

She stands with her back to him and he wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her close to him as they dance, wanting to be as close to her as possible but also not wanting to loose her in the crowd.

"You ready for the second half of your birthday present when we get home?" He says to her as he kisses her neck "Or really we could just go do it in the bathroom..."

"Gross!" Jade laughs "Bathroom sex doesn't even begin to compare to birthday sex!"

She's not drunk, but she's definitely a little tipsy. She's fully aware of who and where she is, but she shouldn't be driving. Beck is more sober than she is.

"Okay that's fine." Beck tells her with a smirk "The wait will just make it that much better."

Jade spins around so they're chest to chest and wraps her arms around his neck, smiling at him briefly before they begin making out. It's a great ten seconds for both of them before they hear their friends yelling in their ears.

"Break it up!" Cat tells them, pulling Jade away from Beck "You two already have one kid, we don't have room in the apartment for another one!"

"Or at least save it for the privacy of your own home." Tori adds, looping an arm around one of Jade's "Come on, birthday girl. Let me buy you another drink!"

Beck laughs as Cat and Tori pull Jade through the crowd and over to the bar. He heads back to their table to join Robbie and Andre. The girls dance together for about another half an hour before coming over and pulling their boyfriends out onto the floor with them. The group dances together until the lights come on and it's time to leave.

They call Ubers, knowing that it's not responsible for any of them to try and drive the others home. As soon as Beck and Jade step outside of the building, they're met with flashbulbs and yelling paparazzi.

"Keep your head down, don't talk to them." Beck tells Jade and their friends "Just get to your cars, I'm so sorry."

He grabs Jade's hand and leads her down the sidewalk past all of the photographers as they try their best to ignore everyone that is yelling at them.

"Beck! What are we celebrating tonight?"

"Beck smile!"

"Beck look over here!"

"Where are you headed now?"

"Smile for us, sweetheart!"

"What's it like being a movie star's girlfriend?"

"Hey look over here, Jade!"

"Beck!"

"Beck!"

Beck practically rips open the door to their waiting car and allows Jade to climb inside before climbing in himself and slamming the door behind them. Their driver confirms their address and then starts driving, and they disappear into LA traffic.

"Are you okay?" Beck asks Jade, placing a hand on her shoulder "There's never been that many of them before. Someone must have tweeted that I was there or something..."

"I'm okay." Jade assures him "I think I'm scared sober, but I'm okay. I'm just happy they didn't ambush us like that when Miles was with us."

"I'm sorry..."

"Did _you_ tip them off that you were there?"

"Well, no."

"Then don't apologize." Jade tells him as she kisses him "S'not your fault."

"I'm still sorry you had a shitty end to your birthday." Beck apologizes

"It's just something we're going to have to get used to, as unfortunate as that is and as wrong as it sounds." Jade sighs "And besides, my birthday technically isn't over yet. I thought you said you had another birthday present for me?"

"Oh do I ever." Beck smirks, wrapping an arm around her shoulders "I would kiss you now, but I don't want to get too carried away in a stranger's car."


	24. Becoming Us

For Beck, life only continues to get crazier and crazier. He's making more movies, and with them making more money too, getting recognized by more people, and growing more and more popular by the day. He now has a driver in LA that takes him wherever he needs to go, despite the fact that he would much prefer to drive himself, and a body guard that travels with him when he's anywhere but home, both intended to keep him safe from any crazy fans who have the wrong idea.

The first thing he does with his new money is pay off his parents' mortgage on their house. They've done so much for him, especially since Miles has been born, and he wants to make sure that he shows them that he's thankful for that. Next comes a college fund for Miles, which gets added to monthly, and a house for himself. Well...a house for himself and Miles...and he hopes one day Jade too. It's just over six thousand square feet and sits on a full acre of land. There's five bedrooms, six bathrooms, a pool with a hot tub and a beautiful view of downtown Los Angeles. He hires a decorating team to help him figure out how he wants to design the space, and Jade gives her input via FaceTime, because he wants her to feel just as much at home as he does. She says she's satisfied with all of the choices but Beck knows that she'll put her own finishing touches on everything when she and Miles come to visit at Thanksgiving, and he loves that.

Meanwhile in New York, Jade and Miles continue to live somewhat normal lives. Jade is now in her senior year of college and Miles is in his second year of preschool. Jade finds herself counting down the days until graduation so that she can get back to California and start her career as an actress, but along the way discovers that she's actually going to miss the city. She's going to miss holding Miles' hand as the two of them walk from the train to his school every morning. She's going to miss the thunderstorms and rainy weather that rarely visit Los Angeles. She's going to miss their little apartment and watching movies in the living room with Cat after Miles is asleep.

She's really going to miss Cat in general. The two women have known each other since elementary school and have been through a lot together: new boyfriends, breakups, new schools, new cities...even a baby. Jade can't even begin to imagine what it's going to be like not seeing Cat everyday.

"Have you thought about what you're going to do after graduation?" Jade asks her friend one night after Miles is asleep "I mean, I know you want to make music and tour and all that, duh. But like...are you coming back to LA with us?"

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that, actually..." Cat sighs, tucking her legs underneath her as she repositions herself on the couch "I've sort've fallen in love with New York...I don't think I'm ready to leave just yet."

Jade knew this might possibly be the case, but Cat had never mentioned it to her until now.

"So, you're staying?"

"I am." Cat nods "At least for now, I don't think it will be forever but...Robbie found a job up here. And there's just as many record labels here as there are back in California, so he and I have been talking about him moving in here with me...after you and Miles leave of course!"

"I think that's a great idea, Cat." Jade smiles

"You're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"Well...I mean it's going to be the first time you and I are ever _not_ living in the same city." Cat reminds her "Plus, we're probably going to take your room."

"Well I figured as such." Jade laughs "My room has a _much_ bigger closet. And as much as I'll miss you when we go back...there's still FaceTime. And we can always visit one another."

"Yeah you and your fancy house in the Hollywood Hills." Cat smirks, taking a sip of the hot chocolate in her mug

"It's Beck's house." Jade corrects her "He paid for it, Miles and I are just moving in."

"Yeah and you're going to live happily ever after there." Cat teases her "Why are you rolling your eyes at me? Don't roll your eyes, it's true!"

"I'm rolling my eyes because you're so optimistic it's almost annoying." Jade laughs "Who _knows_ what the future has in store for Beck and I. We-"

"Two huge movie careers, a Mr. and Mrs. Smith-esque blockbuster hit, and a million more adorable babies to fill up all of the bedrooms in that house." Cat cuts her off

"We're just living in the moment in the moment and enjoying ourselves right now. We're going to see where that takes us." Jade finishes her statement "Why do you always cut to us having a 'million' babies? That's not even humanly possible."

"I just want you to be happy, Jade." Cat assures her "You deserve to be happy."

"So do you, Cat." Jade tells her, opening her arms to hug her friend "I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you for everything you've done for me and Miles."

"S'what friends are for, aren't they?" Cat smiles as she hugs her "Or more like family, at this point."

"We're family for sure." Jade agrees "I love you, Cat."

"I love you too, Jadey."

* * *

"Let's recreate that picture of the three of us." Beck suggests, scooping Miles up into his arms "From high school. The one where he has my cap on?"

"Alright." Jade chuckles, removing her graduation cap from her head and placing it on top of Miles' "Smile for grandma, buddy."

Jade loops her arm around Beck's waist while he holds Miles in his arms and all three of them smile while Kaitlyn takes their picture. They're standing in the middle of Yankee Stadium, where NYU had chosen to hold commencement for the graduating class, Jade clad in her bright purple cap and gown, and Beck and Miles in dress shirts and dress pants.

Beck had been in New York for about a week before Jade and Cat's graduation, but Kaitlyn, Chris, Tyler, John, and Angie had all gotten to New York the night before. They all sat together, along with Miles and Cat's family, in the stands as they watched the two girls walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. Cat had graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in recorded music, and Jade with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drama with a minor in performance studies. Everyone was incredibly proud of both girls, but their celebrations won't last long. In the morning, Jade and Beck will begin packing all of her and Miles' belongings to begin their cross country move back to Los Angeles.

"I want pictures with Aunt Cat!" Miles tells Beck and Jade

"Of course." Jade nods, looking around for her friend "Cat! Miles wants pictures!"

"Oh of course!" Cat grins, moving away from her parents and taking the little boy in her arms "Anything for my favorite godson."

"Do you have other godsons?" Miles asks her

"Not yet." Cat laughs, kissing him on the cheek and leaving a bright pink lipstick mark "But you're always going to be special to me because even if I do get more, you're my first. That'll never change."

"I love you, Aunt Cat." Miles tells her, wrapping his arms around her neck tightly "I'm gonna miss you when we move."

"I'm going to miss you too, Little Man." Cat frowns, turning to Jade "Can he sleep in my bed with me tonight? Please?"

"Yeah." Jade nods, exchanging a quick look of approval with Beck "We can stay up later packing that way and not have to worry about waking him up."

"Hear that, Miles?" Cat grins "We're having a sleepover!"

"Yay!"

"Alright you two." Jade laughs "Smile for the picture."

* * *

A familiar marimba tone starts sounding from Jade's phone, pulling both her and Beck out of the deep sleep they had both fallen into. With a groan, she rolls over and silences the alarm, feeling Beck's arm snake its way around her waist as she does so.

"Good morning, beautiful." He whispers into her ear, his voice still heavy with grogginess "Ready for your first day?"

"I think so." Jade nods, her eyes still only open half-way "I keep having to remind myself that this is really happening."

"Which part?"

"All of it." She admits "You, Miles, the house, the movie...all of it."

She and Miles have been back in California and living with Beck for about four months now. Miles is five years old now and just started kindergarten at a private school not too far from their house that had come highly recommended by a few of Beck's colleagues; it ensured Miles his privacy and safety, being the child of a celebrity, but also wasn't too snobby and wouldn't get in his head at all. Jade had started auditioning for different roles as soon as she arrived in Los Angeles, and immediately booked guest spots on two different TV shows, and is now today getting ready to start her first day on her first Hollywood movie. It's a highly-anticipated adaptation of a popular young adult novel, and is guaranteed to get at least a sequel. Like Beck in his first movie, she isn't playing the lead. She's playing the lead's younger sister, but is still quite important to the plot.

"You deserve everything that you have achieved so far." Beck smiles as he kisses her "You've worked so hard for it."

"You've worked hard too."

"I don't think I could have done what you did." Beck admits "Moving all the way across the country, as a single mom with a one year-old baby to raise, and going to school and working and being on broadway...you're a super hero, I swear."

"Oh you caught me." Jade chuckles "Please don't reveal my identity to Dr. Doom. He's been after me for years!"

"And you're funny too." He smirks, kissing her again "I'm so lucky. I have the perfect kid and the perfect girlfriend."

"You're not so bad yourself, Oliver." She tells him "But stop trying to schmooze me, I can't be late on my first day."

The movie is set to premiere the following spring. This time around, there are designers lining up to design red carpet looks for Beck and Jade. Beck has become quite well-known throughout the industry and around the world, and Jade is starting to make a name for herself as well. They're one of Hollywood's hottest couples, and it's hard not to love them. They still have their fair share of haters, as all celebrities do, but both of them try their best not to pay them any mind.

Jade does her press tour for the movie solo. She would have loved to bring Miles and Beck along with her, but Miles is still in school and they don't want him to miss it unless he absolutely has to so Beck opts to stay home with him. She and her co-stars travel and do press in what seems like every country on Earth, when in reality it's only about twelve. She does her rounds on all of the talk shows in New York, before arriving home absolutely exhausted just two days before the movie is set to premiere in LA. She sleeps in late the day after she arrives, but goes with Beck to pick Miles up from school. The three of them go out to Jade's favorite restaurant in LA for dinner, and then return home for night swimming in the pool before it's time for Miles to go to bed.

"I think our son is part fish." Beck chuckles as he steps out onto the balcony attached to the master bedroom "Trying to get him out of that pool is impossible."

"Oh I know." Jade laughs, leaning against the railing "I was there."

She had given Miles a bath and gotten him ready for bed, read him a story, said goodnight and tucked him in, then retreated to the master bedroom while Beck said goodnight. She loves thew view from the balcony and doesn't think she'll ever get sick of it.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Beck asks, wrapping his arms around her waist

"Just about how crazy lucky I am to get to live the life that I do." Jade admits, closing her eyes as she leans back against him "And how lucky I am that this movie is relatively well-received so far."

"I never doubted you or this movie for a second." Beck chuckles, kissing her cheek "Soak it all in, babe. It's your time to shine."

"I've never walked a red carpet for something I've done." Jade sighs with a smile "Normally I'm just arm candy, but now it's your turn."

"I don't mind." Beck laughs "If all I ever am for the rest of my life is Jade West's boyfriend and Miles Oliver-West's dad, I'll die happy. I could never make another movie again and be perfectly happy as long as I have you two."

"That's a lie." Jade smirks

"It's partially a lie." Beck chuckles, moving his hands to her shoulders and spinning her around so they're face to face "I do really enjoy acting. But I would just be content to be Miles' dad...not sure if I would be entirely content to only be your boyfriend though."

"Excuse me?"

"Being Jade West's boyfriend is great and everything." He assures her, reaching into his pocket "But I think being Jade West's husband would be even better."

"Beck..."

"If someone had told me..." Beck smiles, opening the ring box and kneeling down in front of her "that the girl who sat next to me in Mr. Reed's eighth grade math class would one day be the love of my life and the mother of my son...I'm not sure I would have believed them. But all of that is true now, Jade. You really _are_ the love of my life. I'm so lucky to get to love you and to be loved by you, and that we have Miles. We both lost sight of what was important there for a little while, but we've been back together for almost two years now, and I'd say we're stronger than ever. Wouldn't you agree?"

Jade nods in agreement, covering both her mouth and her nose with her hands.

"Will you marry me?"

"Of course." Jade smiles

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

He places the box on the ground next to him and stands up, wrapping his arms around her waist, picking her up and spinning her around as he presses a kiss to her lips.

"God, I love you so much." He tells her, still holding her above the ground in his arms

"I love you too." She grins, resting her forehead against his "But..."

"But what?" Beck asks "Oh my god, the ring!"

He sets her down on her feet again and bends down to pick up the box and remove the ring. It's a french-set halo cut diamond set on a white-gold band that is lined all the way around with other smaller diamonds. It's simple, elegant, and extravagant all at once, and Jade feels as if she could cry as Beck slides it onto her ring finger.

"It's beautiful..." She says quietly

"A beautiful ring for a beautiful lady." Beck smiles

"Thank you." She grins, placing her left hand on his cheek and leaning in to kiss him

"No." He tells her as they break away "Thank you, Jade."


	25. Epilogue: A Long Way From Venice Beach

Beck and Jade's engagement is a long one, they don't get married until they're twenty-five. Between different projects that they're both working on and trying to schedule and plan everything the way that they want to, there's just no other way to make it work. They don't mind though, as long as they eventually do get to get married. And they do. Their wedding isn't anything big or extravagant, at least to them. The ceremony is at a private vineyard in Napa Valley, with only about fifty guests. Cat and Andre are maid of honor and best man, and Miles is the ring bearer. They honeymoon in Greece for two weeks and return home feeling happier than ever and ready to start their lives as a married couple.

Jade contemplated changing her name to Oliver, but was conflicted for multiple reasons. For one thing, she was already quite famous as Jade West already, and changing her name suddenly might cause some confusion in the industry. And for another thing, eliminating West from her name would leave Miles as the only member of their family to have a different sir name. She really wants to take Beck's name in some way though, just as another daily reminder that she really _did_ get to marry the love of her life. When she brings up the idea of taking Miles' hyphenated name to her new husband, he surprises her with his response.

"That's a great idea." Beck smiles "Actually, I think it would be cool if we all got to have the same name."

"Should Miles and I both switch to just 'Oliver' then?" Jade asks him, slightly confused by his statement "That's a lot of paperwork."

"No, we shouldn't make such a huge change like that for Miles. He's too young, it might confuse him." Beck shakes his head "I meant, maybe I should hyphenate too."

"You want to take my name?" Jade raises an eyebrow at him

"Why not?" Beck grins "You're taking mine. If you and Miles get to have the same one, why should I be the odd one out? Besides, this is the twenty-first century. And our marriage is a partnership. I want to have just as much as you with me as you get to have of me with you."

"Beck Oliver-West?"

"And Jade Oliver-West." Beck nods with a smile "With their son Miles Oliver-West. The Oliver-West family."

"I love that." Jade tells him, placing one of her hands on their side of his face

"So do I." Beck pecks her quickly on the lips "And I love you."

It takes a few weeks to process, but from then on they're known both legally and professionally as Beck Oliver-West and Jade Oliver-West. It takes some getting used to for the industry and the general public, and for both of them as well, but before long it just feels as if that's the way it's always been. Miles, now eight years old, especially loves it. He finally gets to have the same name as both of his parents, rather than just feeling like a hodgepodge of the two.

'Bade', as the couple has come to be known, is arguably one of the hottest couples in Hollywood. Everybody either wants to be them or be _with_ them. Both of them continue to crank out blockbuster movie after blockbuster movie. Beck books the role of the lead in a remake of one of the most beloved spy movie sagas of all time, and Jade lands the role of one of the world's biggest and most popular female super heroes the character's movie adaptations. She's guaranteed _at least_ six movies, and confirms Beck's theory that she actually secretly _is_ a super hero. They never work at the same time, so that they can always be together as a family wherever the working parent is filming. Miles thinks all of the traveling he gets to do is cool, and hardly minds that he sometimes has to be tutored privately at times rather than being in school with his friends. His parents try to keep him at school as often as they can though, still wanting him to live as normal of a life as possible.

Despite all of their success professionally, and their happiness as a couple and as a family with Miles, both Beck and Jade still feel like something is missing from their lives. That something happens to be a little boy named Jackson Tate Oliver-West, who arrives a few months after his father's twenty-seventh birthday. Miles is thrilled to finally have a little sibling, especially a brother. Friends of his parents, his Uncle Andre and Aunt Tori, had a little boy named Felix about a year prior and Miles had been _obsessed_ with the idea of having a little brother ever since.

Jackson's arrival sparked national interest as soon as it was announced, and it's then that Beck and Jade realize how invasive people can be when there's money involved. Paparazzi camp outside of the hospital and of the gated community where they live, all of them trying to be the first to capture a picture of the baby. The police have to escort them out of the hospital and all the way home, and the buzz only dies down when they both post pictures of their new son to their instagram accounts, revealing his face to the world. They had always planned on posting pictures of him. Like with Miles, they know hiding his face is more dangerous than showing it, but they wanted to have a few days to be with him and enjoy their new life as a family of four before sharing him with the world. But paparazzi and the invasion of their privacy, as Beck often puts it, are occupational hazards to both of them now.

Miles still looks just like his mother with the exception of having his father's nose and smile, but Jackson appears to be more of an even mix of his mother and father. There's a ten year age gap between their two sons, but that seems to only make their bond stronger; Miles and Jackson are absolutely obsessed with one another. Beck and Jade both know that such a big age gap though will cause trouble for Jackson down the line, because Miles will be either away at college or off on his own before Jackson has even reached middle school. They don't want their younger son to grow up feeling as if he's basically an only child, so around his first birthday they decide to start trying for their third. Within six months, Jade is pregnant again.

She and Beck have both grown accustomed to being the parents of boys, so much to the point that they can't ever imagine having a girl. But the universe has always liked to play tricks on them, and when it comes time to learn the gender of their third child... of course it's a girl. Jade is nervous for the rest of her pregnancy, she's a mom of boys and doesn't know how to go about raising a little girl. Cat Valentine on the other hand, is thrilled. She and Robbie welcome their baby girl, Eloise May Shapiro, three months before Jade is due to have her own, and can't wait for her daughter to hopefully become best friends with her own best friend's daughter.

All fears aside, the moment Jade holds her little girl for the first time...she knows that everything is just the way it's supposed to be. It feels right.

"She's perfect." Jade says quietly to Beck as she strokes her daughter's cheek gently "Look at her."

"Just like her mom." He smiles, gently pressing a kiss to her forehead "And just like her brothers."

They're home now after a shorter hospital stay than they had with their two previous babies. Jade had gone into labor in the middle of the night, and was able to slip into the hospital undetected by the paparazzi. As soon as both mother and baby were deemed healthy enough to go home, they did. They used a service entrance to exit the hospital, well out of the view of any photographers, and made it home without the media catching wind that the baby had even been born.

"Can we come in now?" A voice says from the hallway outside Beck and Jade's bedroom

"Yeah!" Another voice chimes in "Me see sister!"

"You can come in, boys." Jade laughs

The door opens and Miles enters, holding the hand of his younger brother. He lifts Jackson onto the bed before crawling in next to his mother, neither of them taking their eyes off of the baby in Jade's arms.

"Remember..." Beck reminds the boys "Quiet and gentle around the baby."

"I know, Dad." Miles rolls his eyes "I've done this before."

"I know you have." Beck smirks "That was more for Jackson."

"Oh."

"What her name?" The two year old asks with curious eyes

"Violet." Jade smiles "Violet Blaire Oliver-West."

"I like that name a lot." Miles tells her "Can I hold her?"

"Of course." Jade nods "Do you remember how?"

"Support the head and use both hands." Miles tells her as she passes the baby to him "Hi baby sister."

"I hold too!" Jackson insists

"Wait your turn, Jackson Tate." Beck warns him "And sit on your butt, we don't want to rock the bed."

"Okay, fine."

A week later, their family's faces are plastered on the front of People Magazine along with the headline _Beck and Jade: 'Meet Our Baby Girl'_. Having learned their lesson with Jackson about the paparazzi's mad dash to get the first photograph, they decided to exclusively allow the most respectful magazine, who had yet to run a bad or invasive story about either Beck or Jade, to take the first photos of their baby and publish them. There's a whole article on their family as well, about how Beck and Jade had been high school sweethearts who found themselves in a sticky situation, their breakup, how they found their way back to each other after years apart, and how it had been smooth sailing for them ever since. Pictures of Miles and Jackson doting over their new sister steal the hearts of millions of people, and the pictures of Beck and Jade staring lovingly into each other's eyes make those millions of people believe in true love.

"Oh no!" Beck exclaims as Miles jumps into the pool "Jackson! He's gonna get us!"

The toddler giggles hysterically as his father carries him through the water, slow-motion running to get away from Miles as he splashes them with water.

"Hey!" Jade calls out with a tone of warning as she covers Violet's face "Watch the baby!"

It's still too soon for her to be swimming, not that she would even want to be at this point, the baby is only two weeks old.

"Sorry Mom!"

"Mhm..." Jade nods "Keep the water in the pool, please."

"Splash the other way, boys." Beck tells them, mouthing a quick 'I'm sorry' to his wife before going back to playing

Violet begins to fuss a bit, but Jade is able to calm her down within a few seconds just by rocking her.

"You're alright, baby girl." She coos "I know, your brothers are a bit wild, but it's really not so bad. They love you a whole lot and I can already tell they're going to be super protective."

Violet lets out a happy gurgle as she snuggles into her mother's chest, comforted by the warmth of her body and by the familiar smell of her lotion. Jade smiles down at the baby, and then up at her three boys in the pool. Maybe it's just her still-crazy hormones, or the fact that she still feels so lucky to have the life that she has, but she begins to tear up. She tries to dry her eyes with the edge of Violet's blanket, but the tears just keep coming. Eventually, Miles and Jackson grow tired of the pool and Beck sends them inside, Miles to shower and Jackson to start getting ready for the bath he'll give him after he checks on Jade and the baby. He climbs out of the water and grabs a towel, drying himself off briefly before sitting down next to Jade.

"Those weren't tears I saw over here, were they?" He asks her, slightly concerned

"They were happy tears." Jade assures him "I just...I'm feeling especially lucky today. I have three amazing kids and an amazing husband."

"And quite the career."

"Oh none of that matters." Jade tells him as she looks down at Violet "I mean, I'll be acting until I'm old and gray because I love it...but they're all that matter...them and you."

"Hey..." He tilts her chin up so that she's looking right into his eyes "I love you."

"I know." She smiles "I love you too."

"I know."

The two of them begin kissing, almost forgetting where they are, until a chorus of 'ew's ring out behind them.

"Get a room!" Miles yells from the patio doors "We don't want to see that!"

"Yeah!" Jackson adds "Icky!"

"I thought I told you two to start getting cleaned up!" Beck chuckles as he stands up, extending a hand to Jade to help her do the same

"Well yeah, but then you two started making out!" Miles exclaims "What were we supposed to do? Ignore you?"

"Yes!" Beck and Jade both say in unison, then laugh at the coincidence

Beck wraps an arm around his wife's waist, smiling down Violet and then at Jade as the two of them start walking back to the house.

They certainly hadn't taken the easy road to get to where they are, but the important thing is that they got there. They have three beautiful children, their whole family is happy and healthy, their careers have been more than successful and show no signs of slowing down anytime soon, but most importantly...

They have each other.

* * *

**And this, my friends, is the end of the line for this story. Thank you to everyone who has read this far and to everyone who has left reviews! I know it took a while for Beck and Jade to find their happy ending, and I know a lot of you weren't happy with me for a lot of those middle chapters, but I sincerely hope you were all happy with how everything turned out! Thank you all again for the support!**


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